Reaching Out
by Baker Alchemist Strawberry
Summary: Summoned by her estranged father to Tokyo-3, Rei Ikari is forced into piloting Evangelion Unit 01 against the Angels. Not all is as it seems, however.
1. Prologue and Foreword

**Introduction**

This fic came out of the random idea I got into my head one day of "What if Shinji was changed by his time in Leliel?" Which then morphed into "What about absorption by Eva makes him go all badass?", which then morphed into "Lol, what about genderbending?"

After slapping myself a few times and deciding to incorporate a few interesting things from all three of these thoughts; and thus this fic was born.

The idea was simple; change several small things to start with, and everything else is affected in different ways, kind of like an unravelling thread A Butterfly Effect, as t'were. To this end; we have Rei Ikari. An angry, confused fourteen year old girl that is adamant she hates her father, who feels abandoned and betrayed. A girl who doesn't always run away or mope like Shinji, but still has many, many problems of her own (It wouldn't be Evangelion otherwise).

She deals with many of her problems through anger - she still has the Hedgehog's Dilemma, but where Shinji would inactively push people away; Rei actively does so. She believes that everyone will betray her at some point. She's an angry young girl, hiding her hurt and confusion behind a mask of either indifference or hate, refusing to reach out. Much of the anger is a front for her own awkwardness and social inabilities. But unlike Shinji, Rei actively approaches her own problems… eventually. At least I hope so. If nothing else, she'll let people help her when she realises she's being stupid.

This isn't exactly how she'll turn out. I know that writing evolves and often changes; but this is the character I set out to start with.

That's not to say this is going to end up constantly wangsty and angsty - I intend there to be therapists here, and people who help Rei out of the rut she is digging herself. I intend this to be a hell of a lot less hopeless than the original; and have a story where everyone has the chance to improve themselves, even those considered evil. Some will take the chance, others won't. I won't say I have a clear idea of where the characters will go in this; though I have the plot down in a shaky frame. We all know writing is a fluid process though.

That's also not to say it's gonna be completely fluffy either. All sorts of bad stuff is gonna happen.

Don't look at me like that; it's Evangelion. Of course there's going to be some horrifying bits.

Oh, and I'm not entirely sticking to the original series - hints of Rebuild and the manga will be there, though this is primarily a fic that deals with the original anime series. The elements will mostly be there because they were damned cool bits that still stuck to the original storyline, but were made much more epic . I might go quite a bit off canon with some things, but I'm not sure. This IS an AU fic. But there are a few people along for the ride, and you'll find out just who later. Oh, and there'll be quite a few bits, especially later on, that are inspired by the Proposal work.

I'll just get that out the way to stop anyone from commenting with "You moved away from canon!111!one". To Clarify: I am Not going to be sticking rigidly to canon NGE. I'll be sticking to the general plot ideas and the progression of angels, but that could be it. I don't know where this is going to go (though I do have the ending planned, and several bits, how I get to them will be an interesting journey)

Oh and yes, yes I have been playing with the timeline. I kinda had to, but as an AU fic it's not too bad, and I do have reasons as to why things are different. Aren't I nice?

So, please enjoy Neon Genesis Evangelion - "Reaching Out"

:Author steps away from stage. Then turns back and bows: Oh yeah… Almost forgot the standard "I'd like to remind everyone who should know that in no way am I claiming ownership of Evangelion; I don't own it, though I wish I did for the crapton of money it would bring me. Neon Genesis Evangelion etc. are © the respective owners like Hideaki Anno and Gainax. I intend to make no profit from this fan derived work. Please don't sue me!" Bull, silly me.

Random info bite on the name - I've been reading Kimi Ni Todoke recently (maybe a little more than is healthy) and was having a real time coming up with a decent name for the fic. Then it hit me that 'Reaching Out' works well, since that's one of the core problems of the characters in Eva. And since it's one of the core things I intend to change –eventually- it kinda fits.

So please, enjoy!

* * *

_**"Neon Genesis Evangelion - Reaching Out"**_

_**Prologue**_

"_**Mother was the First Other"**_

* * *

**2004**

The train was empty save for two people and a few bags containing clothes and one or two toys. One of the occupants was a man, dressed in a black turtleneck sweater and black trousers, which were slightly unkempt, as was his short dark-brown hair. He had a chinstrap beard and glasses that hid his eyes.

The other passenger was a little girl, around four years old. She was dressed in short leggings, a skirt and a baggy sweater with a hood. On her back was a small but cute backpack, and held in her arms was a purple plush toy that looked handmade. Crude though it was, she was holding onto it tightly, as if it were extremely important to her. She had dark-brown hair, at just past shoulder length, which was tied up into two badly done bunches. Her shoes were small and neat, but scuffed, and she was sniffling occasionally, her light-blue eyes red rimmed.

Rei didn't know why her daddy wasn't really there anymore. Ever since her Mama had gone, he had been there but not been there. And he had hit her even when she had done nothing wrong. Rei just wanted her daddy back. She just wanted him to sing her lullabies (even if he sang them badly) and play with her again, even if he was busy. She wanted to see him smile at her like he used to. She wanted Mama to hold her and smile at her again.

But Mama wouldn't be able to, because that thing…

Rei whimpered and shook her head, pushing away the memories.

"Daddy, where are we going?" The four year old asked, looking over at her father.

"To a Teacher's home." Gendo replied curtly. Rei frowned.

"Why are we going there, Daddy?"

"Because we are. Stop asking questions."

"Daddy…" She mumbled. She grabbed onto his arm, but he shook her off, and again, tears began to run down her face. "Daddy, be Daddy again. Please." She begged miserably. "I want my daddy back…"

Gendo didn't hear her. He was too wrapped up in his own churning emotions, although his face registered none of what he was thinking. He took a look at his now crying daughter. She was so small and trusting, even after the horrible way he'd acted to her at times. Even after hitting her for no reason other than blind drunken rage, she still loved him and tried to reach out to him. Tried to hug him, to give him those pecks on the cheek she always had.

She looked like Yui. That was part of the problem. She looked like a tiny, helpless version of his wife, now eaten by that… thing. His fists clenched. The idea had come abruptly, during another drunken rage.

All she'd said was that she missed her Mama. And that had been why he'd nearly broken her arm. Nearly. The bruising on it was something else, and it was at that moment that insight hit him with the subtlety of a breeze block to the face.

He'd stopped when he had realised that he was being a horrible father; that he didn't _deserve_ to be called a father. He hit her when she had done no wrong, and then his heart wrenched when he saw her tears, but he couldn't stop. She always hid the bruises on her stomach or her arms by wearing her baggy clothes, saying she had fallen down, and she always seemed to forgive him. Always. As if there could be nothing but love for her father in the eyes of this child.

Even if every time he came home after work, he saw the fear in her eyes; the naked terror she had of the violence. And he felt ashamed. God knew, he felt ashamed. It would be something nobody would have ever thought him able, but as much as he tried to suppress every emotion, they still boiled over, shame, guilt, anger, rage, violence, crashing in a never ending cycle. He'd had enough, and it was time to protect Rei from himself.

So he was taking her to a teacher he knew, who lived on the outskirts of Tokyo-2. He would have taken her to her uncle Daisuke's place, but Yui's older brother's was always so cursedly busy, and besides, he hated Gendo's guts anyway.

There was a third member of the train, invisible to all, and in a sense, not really 'there', and he watched the two travellers with distinct sadness. He resembled both of the passengers in more than a passing way, although nearly four times the age of the little girl. He shook his head as the little girl sniffled to herself and the man brooded.

"Still the same as you were to me, Father." Shinji Ikari muttered, floating along in his plugsuit. "Still the same cowardly asshole. Though I suppose this time you're doing the wrong thing for the right reasons." He'd watched as his counterpart had been born, and the joy with which she'd lived life. Until their mother had died. Some things never changed, no matter how much you tried to help. And god knows he'd _tried_. But in the end, she'd still been absorbed by Unit 01, his father had demonstrated what an ass he could be and now he was on his way to dump her with that spineless, useless teacher who had about as much clue regarding raising a child as he would a brick.

Still, he'd changed some things for the better, or at least he'd hoped. The ripples of his changes wouldn't be felt yet, and he'd had to conserve energy to be able to influence the world before going dormant again. Hopefully his plans would come to fruition eventually.

"I wonder how the others are doing…" Shinji muttered to himself. Since that pact the four of them had made, he hadn't seen any of them, as planned.

* * *

Asuka ran down the corridor, laughing as she did so, a scrap of paper in her hands and her auburn hair flying out behind her, held up with two red nubs of plastic. She giggled as she skidded round a corner and headed towards a certain door.

"I've been chosen! Over lots of other people!" She shouted, loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear. "I'm special! One of the elite! So look at me!"

The girl skidded to a halt outside the door and opened it carefully, completely contrasting the excited way in which she'd been running. She smiled up at the person lying on the bed as they sat up, mumbling.

"Look at me! I've been chosen as a pilot!" Asuka shouted, and the person winced at the volume so early in the morning. She clambered up onto the bed and picked up the little red doll that lay there as she crawled over to the person now sitting up. "So I'm really great, aren't I?"

Imre Langley Soryu, widowed husband of brilliant scientist Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu, looked down at his daughter, sleep still fogging his brain. After a minute, what she was saying sank into his head and he smiled broadly, lifting her by the shoulders and sitting her on his lap.

"My, what wonderful news Schätzchen!" he exclaimed, ruffling his daughter's hair. "Your Mother would be so proud!"

Asuka looked down and her lip trembled. "Would Mama be proud of me?" She asked. "Really?"

Imre smiled and kissed her forehead. "Of course she would, Schätzchen. I don't think she would have let anyone else pilot her machine."

Standing nearby, unnoticed and unseen stood a girl in a red plugsuit, with red hair. She watched the scene in front of her with barely disguised envy, but also relief as she watched her younger self play with her father.

* * *

"So you'll take care of her?" Gendo asked the man, adjusting his glasses. Rei stood slightly to the side, not entirely sure what was going on; only realising that something bad was happening.

"Daddy…" She mumbled, squeezing her plush nervously. "Daddy, why are we here?"

"Yes, I'll take care of her, as long as you pay the maintenance." The teacher replied coolly. "I don't have the resources on my own to raise a child."

"Recompense will be arranged as soon as I return to Hakone, Mr. Hanamura." Gendo stated, "It is settled, then?"

"Indeed." The teacher said. Gendo nodded and turned around, and began to walk down the street.

"Daddy!" Rei ran up to him as fast as her legs would carry her, "Daddy, wait up!"

Gendo stopped, but didn't turn around. The sheer effort it took him not to turn around and pick her up nearly overwhelmed him, but he had to press on. If only for her sake. "Rei, you have to stay with the nice man."

Rei sniffled and still ran after him, hugging onto his leg. "Daddy, please take me home, I'm scared! I don't want to stay here!"

"You will stay here!" Gendo shouted suddenly, and the little girl jumped away in fear. "This is your home now!"

Rei began to sob. "Daddy, please… Daddy!" Her eyes widened as he began to walk away again. "You'll come back, won't you Daddy? Please come back for me soon…"

Gendo made a small noise that the four year old took to mean assent, and she turned back to the Teacher, who by now had moved next to her. She looked up at him with tear filled eyes, and he sighed. He was about to ruffle her hair, when she shook her head.

"Daddy said he'd come back, so he will. I'll wait for him and be a good girl." She said.

Mr. Hanamura couldn't bear to tell her the truth.

* * *

**2007**

Naoko Akagi sat heavily in her chair in the little house her fiancée owned and sighed. Since she'd finished the Magi years ahead of schedule, she'd not really done too much with her life. Sometimes it was boring; but she'd found it more fulfilling; especially when she had finally quit GEHIRN. There weren't so many secrets to keep on a daily basis, and there weren't the accusing eyes of her daughter, Ritsuko, to watch her constantly. Nor were there those sharp little eyes of the girl that that bastard Ikari had introduced as the daughter of a friend. Ayanami Rei…

She sighed again. That poor little girl, alone and being raised by Gendo Ikari. Better to be raised by wolves like Romulus and Remus than that cold, dispassionate man.

It was odd, though, she thought. He'd chosen to take care of a little girl when he had always cited that he'd been too busy to raise a child when it came to his own daughter.

As she leafed through some papers on the table idly, there was a flash of a familiar face; and she brushed off the others to find a photograph of a different little girl. She looked about four, and there was no doubt as to whose daughter she realised she'd met the girl before. Yui Ikari's face seemed to taunt her through the young girl, as had that Ayanami girl's. She winced. Maybe she was just being paranoid.

Thank god she'd not given into her instincts and slept with that bastard Gendo.

"Daisuke!" Naoko shouted, and her fiancée leaned into the room with a questioning look.

"What is it Naoko?" He asked. She held up the photograph.

"This is your niece, right?" She handed it to him, and he frowned.

"Yes, I found this earlier. Her name is Rei. Must be six or seven now. Why do you ask?"

"Well, she's going to be family, right?" Naoko shrugged. "I thought she might like to come along to the wedding, as a bridesmaid. I know Ritsuko won't be coming, so I'm missing one, and she's so sweet looking, I'm sure she'll do."

"Well, that'd be a good idea, but I don't know exactly where she's at nowadays. When my sister died, Gendo took her to live with some teacher. I'd have taken her in, but right then I was so busy with work and all, it would have been bad for her."

Naoko hummed to herself. Who was that teacher Gendo had mentioned once… Hana… Hanamura? Yes, that was it. She could always find out where he lived.

"Well, I say we find out. She's your niece after all, and she'll be mine too." Naoko didn't mention that she was also curious – the little girl that Gendo had brought into the Geofront, also named Rei , and how similar she looked to his own daughter, well, _that_ was interesting, and she was still a scientist after all.

* * *

The doorbell rang; Naoko Akagi and Daisuke Ikari standing in front of the door to the small house, dressed in their smarter casual clothes. There was a muttering that quickly approached the door and then it was opened to reveal a fairly old man, stooped, with glasses perched on the end of his nose and wearing a shirt and some trousers. He squinted at the couple.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

Daisuke held out a hand. "Sorry to bother you. My name is Daisuke Ikari, and this is my fiancée, Naoko Akagi."

At the mention of the name 'Ikari', the man stood up. "Ryuu Hanamura. I take it you're here to see Rei? That's good, that's good…"

"I'm her uncle, on her mother's side."

"Yes, now that I think about it, she does look a lot like you. Well, come in, come in. You must excuse me for not being present while you see her; I'm so terribly busy with my research."

Daisuke nodded and he and Naoko followed the little man through the house and up the stairs to a small room. The teacher knocked on the door and withdrew back to his own room.

"Coming." A forlorn sounding voice came through the door, and it was slid open to reveal Rei, now seven. She didn't look much different to how she had been in the photograph, but at the same time she looked entirely different. There was something in her eyes; a sadness that shouldn't have been there in such a young child. Her hair was no longer in the two bunches, but was a messy mop on her head that looked like she'd cut it herself. The clothes she was wearing were nothing more than her standard grade school uniform. Daisuke stared in shock, before he remembered his manners and smiled down at her.

"May I help you?" She asked politely.

"Hello, Rei. Don't you remember me?" Daisuke asked. The girl cocked her head to one side, thinking hard.

"Um… Uncle… Daisuke?" She asked. He nodded. "Oh, I'm sorry, come in then." And she stepped back into her room and sat down on the small bed she had. Naoko followed Daisuke into the small room and looked around with obvious surprise. She remembered Ritsuko's room at this age; full of toys, and while Ritsuko had always been very 'sciencey', she had still collected lots of things and her room had always been obvious as to her personality.

Rei's room was bare; almost Spartan, and perfectly tidy. There was a small bed, a chest of drawers and a wardrobe, and a few toys; a couple of plushes, a small clock and a radio. There was a cello in one corner that looked entirely too big for the little girl, and there was one particular plush that looked like it had been handmade and then mended several times; each time with the stitching getting better. What surprised Naoko was how similar it looked to that… monster that the girl's mother had helped create.

Then she remembered that the toy _had_ been made by Yui Ikari; god knew Naoko had seen her stitching it together and more often than not, failing. _So she finished it…_

Daisuke looked surprised as well, and not a little sickened. Rei was looking at him with an oddly empty gaze, so he spoke first after sitting down on the floor.

"So, Rei, how have you been?"

Rei shrugged noncommittally. "I've been all right, thank you, Uncle Daisuke." She said, politely.

"How is school? You doing alright, got some nice friends?"

"It's all right. Um, sensei has my report cards somewhere… I don't have many friends. Well, I have one, and that's Chihiro, but it's okay. People always just leave anyway."

"What?" Naoko asked as she too sat on the floor.

"People always leave me alone. It's okay…" She added, seeing their faces. "I'm used to it... But… um, my schoolwork is fun!"

Daisuke swallowed. "What about Mr. Hanamura?"

"Sensei? He's always very busy, so I get left to myself most of the time." Rei sounded sad. "I cook and clean, though, and he always tells me I do a good job. Sensei's very forgetful, so I have to do a lot of the work." She brightened up suddenly. "I really like cooking, though, so it's all right."

"I see." Daisuke muttered.

Rei looked at Naoko. "Who are you?"

She smiled. "I'm why your uncle's here. We're getting married soon and wanted you to come to the ceremony as a bridesmaid, Rei. My name is Naoko Akagi."

"Auntie… Naoko?" Rei screwed her eyes up as if trying to remember if she'd seen the woman before. "Um… Weren't you at… where… Daddy… and Mama?" Her lip trembled.

Naoko nodded. "That's right; I worked with your mama. Do you want to come? To the wedding, I mean."

Rei looked unsure. "I don't want to be in the way…"

"You'll not be. I need you to be my bridesmaid, Rei." Naoko said, moving closer to the girl and taking one of the small hands. "You'll come along, right?"

"You… need me?"

"Yes."

"Okay… But only if Sensei says I can."

"I'm sure he will." Naoko patted her arm and smiled. Rei simply nodded.

"Then I'll come. But Auntie Naoko…" Rei looked curious. "What's a 'bridesmaid'?"

A few minutes and an extremely one sided conversation later, Naoko and Daisuke were walking back towards the train, having excused themselves from the harassed looking teacher and the forlorn girl. As they sat down on the train towards home, Daisuke looked angry.

"My god, what happened to her?" He clenched his fist. "She used to be such a happy little girl, always smiling and always very friendly."

"I only met her once, but she was as you say. Of course that was when Doctor Ikari was alive. Losing your mother and then having your father abandon you like that is bound to change you. But it does seem like there's more wrong with her."

"You can bet there is." Daisuke looked at his hands. "Dammit, I doubt it's purposeful, but it seems like a case of neglect."

Naoko patted his arm. "I don't quite think it's that bad, but I'll definitely say that he's not entirely treating her right. She seems so lonely."

"I can't help but feel it's my fault. I should have taken her in while I had the chance. I'd have made do. Dammit, I was so selfish!" He clenched his fist.

It was later, when they had got back to their own little home and sat down for a while, that Naoko had an idea. Like her other flashes of inspiration – when she'd first imagined the MAGI, not long after Ritsuko had been born, when she'd worked out some things to do with the under construction Unit 00- it came completely and shockingly to the forefront of her brain, demanding immediate attention.

Daisuke had made dinner, and they were sat on the couch, watching television, when Daisuke looked regretful.

"It's still bothering me, you know."

"What is, dear?"

"Rei." He replied.

"Ah." Naoko said. "Well…"

"Well, nothing! I could have looked after her and I didn't! Dammit."

It was then that the idea appeared in her mind. "Let's rescue her." She grinned. Daisuke looked sharply at her.

"What?"

"You heard me. Let's give her a loving home. I know that teacher isn't neglecting her on purpose, and after talking with him, I'm more than certain that he would be relieved to have her off his hands. So let's take Rei in ourselves."

Daisuke looked up at her. "Naoko…"

"Look, I'll be the first to admit it's not entirely because I want to make a little girl have a happy home – I feel I need to atone for how I raised my own daughter. Which was badly. Maybe if I can raise Rei to be loved and looked after, I might be able to forgive myself for raising Ritsuko so poorly."

"I see…"

"But also, didn't she seem so sad? And that haircut, and everything. She's doing everything on her own, and she's only seven. A girl that age needs love, attention, and a warm home where she can play. So… let's take her in."

Daisuke blinked and then his face cracked into a warm smile. "Naoko, you're a genius."

"Of course." Naoko leaned back and smiled a satisfied smile. She tapped the arms of the couch thoughtfully and looked around the small lounge. "Hmm. I think, first things first, we need to find somewhere a bit bigger. Not by much, but little girls do need a room of their own and they need the room to collect things. Should be easy enough, I have more than enough stashed away from my GEHIRN stipend to find somewhere. Maybe on the outskirts of the city. It might be a longer commute, but it's probably a nicer area."

"Mmm." Daisuke mumbled. He was still processing the idea of taking in the girl.

"And then I think we should buy her some nice things. If all she has is the stuff in her room, then she'll need more. Clothes especially. A little girl needs clothes."

Naoko continued talking about preparations, while Daisuke turned the notion over and over in his head. She was right, of course. Daisuke cursed to himself as he realised he hadn't thought of it earlier.

* * *

"You have reached GEHIRN, please state the reason you are calling."

"This is Doctor Naoko Akagi. Please allow me to speak to Gendo Ikari."

"I'm sorry, but the Commander is busy right now, can I take a message?"

Naoko ground her teeth. "Yes. Check my credentials; you'll know I worked for GEHIRN, so once you've done that, please tell him I need to speak with him urgently concerning his daughter. Please add a note that if he is unwilling so speak to me, that I may get in contact with Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki."

"I'll take the message, thank you for calling."

There was a click. Naoko sighed and put the phone down, and almost immediately it rang again. She picked it up.

"Naoko Akagi speaking."

"Doctor Akagi." The voice wasn't the cold one she had been expecting; instead it was rather warm and warily friendly.

"Professor Fuyutsuki." Naoko smiled. Where she had despised Ikari, she rather liked the Vice-Commander. "Good to hear from you. Sorry to bother you at this hour."

"It doesn't matter. What's this about the Commander's daughter?"

Naoko sighed. "We want to take her in."

"We?" Kozo sounded surprised.

"I'm getting married again. I sent an invite, though it doesn't look like it's arrived. You're invited, though. It'll be in a few months."

"Yui's brother?" On the other end of the line, Fuyutsuki blinked.

"Daisuke, yes. Anyway, to business, I'm sure you have more than enough to do."

"Indeed." There was a low chuckle. "So, what's got you so interested in Rei Ikari?"

"We… visited her the other day to give her an invitation to the wedding. I assume you know Ritsuko isn't speaking to me anymore?"

"Yes, go on."

Naoko sighed again before resuming. "Well, I needed another bridesmaid, so we went to visit her after chasing up Professor Hanamura. When we got there… Well…" Naoko paused, trying to figure out how best to explain the situation. "She… Damn it, Kozo, that's not how a child should live!"

"What was wrong?" Kozo sounded truly concerned this time and Naoko remembered his grandchildren and how he had doted on them before falling out with his son and daughter and their respective spouses.

"Well, she wasn't being mistreated, far from it. Hanamura lives quite well, from what we could see. But… Well, she seems so lonely, left alone to herself for the most part. You really had to be there." She took a breath. "Look, Kozo, me and Daisuke would do a much better job of raising her than that professor could. We'd give her love and a home she would like to live in. My god, Kozo, she said that she knew everyone would leave her at some point, and her room… It's not natural for a child like her to live like that. She cuts her own hair for god's sake! It's like he only just takes care of her. It's not good enough."

"I'll talk to Ikari." Fuyutsuki said gently, trying to calm the scientist down. "I'll see what he says."

"Thanks, Kozo."

"No promises, I'm afraid, Naoko. Anyway, that aside, how have you been?"

"Fine. A little bored, it's quite a lot less stimulating not to build supercomputers. I'm almost tempted to work on a personal Magi."

Fuyutsuki chuckled. "Well, you sound a lot happier than when you were here. To think it was only six months ago..."

"I am. It's kind of strange, not working there, but it's alright. Daisuke's a good man. How's… How's Ritsuko?"

"She's alright. You two should really make up. It was a stupid thing you fell out over."

Naoko pinched the bridge of her nose. "No, too many things were said that day. I regret it, but there's not a lot I can do about it."

"I see. Well, I have to go. I'll talk to Gendo about this later on or tomorrow. I'll call you back."

"One second, Professor." Naoko said. Fuyutsuki paused a moment before returning the phone to his ear. "Tell that ba- Tell Gendo that if he truly has any love left for his daughter underneath that ice shell he's constructed around himself, he'll let me look after Rei and give her a loving home."

"I'll… try." Fuyutsuki said, "No promises, Naoko. Goodbye."

He hung up, and Naoko put the phone down on the kitchen counter. She looked around their new house's kitchen/dining room and smiled. He'd let her take the girl in, she knew it. Eventually.

It was just a matter of time.


	2. Angel Attack, Sachiel Angel of Water

Page **45** of **45**

_**Reaching Out**_

_**A Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfiction**_

_**Chapter 1 – Angel Attack/Sachiel; Angel of Water**_

_**

* * *

**_

The lights flashed; the only way her mind could interpret the startup signals sent to it through the A-10 nerve clips - rainbows, then sparkles, then the colour of blood, then blackness, and then finally spots of white that joined to form the view of outside. Not that there was one, instead there was…

Nothing.

Solid, blank whiteness as far as she could see. She pinged the radar. Nothing. She tried sonar. Nothing. She flexed her hand, and the Eva did the same. She brought up the hand to where she should have been able to see it. Nothing. The light was as darkness.

Rei Ikari sighed and turned the externals off, switching to the most basic life support mode. Next to her head, a window was up showing 15 hours and 40 minutes of time remaining at this operational level before the Evangelion could no longer support her and she would die.

Death. What would it be like? Would she drown in the LCL? Or would she merely cease conscious thought? Would it be like when she had been strangled, with her vision fading?

She wondered along these lines for a while, and then looked around with disgust.

"Dammit." And she hit one of the joysticks.

She leaned back, and looked down. _Oh, this is going to be great. I wonder what they'll put on my gravestone. 'Rei Ikari - Great Pilot, Fucking Idiot.'_

She closed her eyes. _So here I am. Stuck in a skyscraper sized cyborg that's prone to violent rages, runs off the mains - whose fucking idea was that anyway - Trapped inside an angel in what may or may not be another universe. I'm fifteen, fairly angry and probably going to die. Dammit, I didn't even tell him-_

Rei shook her head again. _Goddammit."Why don't ya just shoot it?", eh Asuka? THIS is why. And why the hell did I even listen to her? She was the one being pissy about the synchronisation test. Dammitdammitdammit, I'm going to die and it's all that stupid German bitch's fault. So much for her friendship; the moment you put one foot out of line she breaks it. It wasn't my fault that…_

She looked around suddenly at a feeling of something else in the Entry Plug, but there was nothing she could see. She could feel an insistent itch in the back of her head; like something was speaking and she couldn't quite pick up all of what it was saying.

_**~Who are you?~**_

_**~so many days ago it seems?~**_

_~"Rei, Ikari Rei." She said, and looked over the class with her good eye - the other was too heavily bandaged. She noticed the odd blue haired girl from the Evangelion cage sat at the back, looking vaguely bored. Among the class was a boy who had a camera on his desk and a model of one of those JSSDF copters. Then there was the Class Rep, who seemed to rule the place with an iron fist…~_

_**~Who are you?~**_It came more insistently this time.

_Who the fuck are__**you**__?_

_You…_

_**~You…~**_

Rei opened her eyes and looked around at the walls of the entry plug. The silver walls were oddly comforting, and again, there was that smell of blood. The presence was gone, and she dismissed it as her own mind playing tricks on her. Thank god the plug was still vaguely lit.

"Well, this is boring." She considered starting up Unit 01 and dying a quick death, but dismissed it after a second.

"Goddamnit. How did it end up like this?" She muttered, and looked up through the liquid, remembering back to her first day in Tokyo-3.

What a disaster _that_ was.

* * *

**2015**

_Little Rei ran. Gasping as she did so, she pumped her small arms at her sides, and turned her head back to see the huge purple monstrosity bearing down on her with calm, mechanical strides. She squealed and carried on running, smacking into the legs of a blurry figure that picked her little body up and cradled Rei to its chest. Rei felt calm for a few seconds before there was a roar and she turned to see the huge purple thing running at them, growing in size until it was larger than the buildings around. It advanced on the two of them slowly, a low growling emanating from it, and Rei squealed again. _

_The figure put her down onto the floor and told her to run; and Rei did so, running and running until her legs gave out, and she sank to the floor, turning around to see the giant standing above the woman. It reached down, picked her up and then in one fell motion, bit the woman's head off._

_"Mama!" Rei screamed, and struggled to her feet, tears in her eyes. She ran at the thing blindly, where it had dropped the corpse, and Rei ran over to the body, shaking it and pulling at it._

_"Mama! Mama! Please wake up mama! Please!" She knew it was useless, instinctively. She heard the same low growling and looked up to see the huge thing reaching for her. It was about to grasp her in its hand when-_

-Rei Ikari woke up with a start and stared at her ceiling, tears coming unbidden to her eyes. Every night for the past week, that same dream, the same purple giant that so resembled the plush toy made for her by her mother when she was young. It always chased her and bit the head off the woman she too late realised was her mother. Why she was always so young in the dreams was beyond her.

The sun was shining in through the blinds to her small but neat room, and she sat up, looking at a sheaf of papers on her desk. This was why her room was so tidy, even tidier than it usually was - most of her stuff was all packed up, ready to go to Tokyo-3. A summons, from her father, no less, may he rot in hell. She stood up and swung her feet off her bed - which would be delivered to Tokyo-3 later if she decided to stay (Which, in all honesty was about as likely as her uncle wearing a tutu), and walked over to her desk, where her computer sat, and a framed photograph that was one of her most precious possessions. It showed her mother, Kozo Fuyutsuki and even her father. All three were smiling.

Rei stroked the photo, looking sad. "I'm sorry I can't help you, even in my dreams, mama." She whispered. Shaking her head, Rei sighed again, and headed to the bathroom to grab a shower.

Once her shower was finished, and she had dressed herself, she regarded herself in the mirror for a few seconds. There was never any chance of denying it - she looked distinctly boyish, with her hair cropped fairly short, short-but-lanky frame and general lack of a bust. She was almost too thin, and her few friends all told her she was definitely going to be a 'late bloomer', though, frankly she couldn't care less about the development of her body. The clothes she wore were simple and utilitarian - a white blouse and smart black trousers. The only real concessions to her femininity were the shoes she wore - no heel, but distinctly female, and the watch she had on.

It wasn't that she was actively tomboyish; just that she didn't really bother much with feminine things; she had a somewhat 'meh' opinion of trying to be very girly, or attract a boyfriend. It just seemed like too much work. And Rei never id have much motivation.

Rei sighed, picked up her satchel, slung it over one shoulder and went downstairs for a quick breakfast before she headed to the station to get the train to Tokyo-3 and whatever awaited her there. She doubted this business would take long, and thought that she'd be back in Tokyo-2 by a few days, or even tomorrow.

As she was cooking the rice, her uncle walked into the kitchen and sat at the table.

"Good morning, Rei."

"Good morning, Uncle Daisuke. Auntie Naoko must be late getting up; I'll put her breakfast in the oven." Rei said dutifully, smiling as she placed a bowl of rice in front of him, followed by a small tray with some grilled fish and a bowl of miso soup, and placing a tray with her aunt's food on it into the oven, before placing her own breakfast at the table. She sat down and picked up her chopsticks.

"Itadakimasu!"_*****_ She said quietly, as her uncle did the same, and they proceeded to eat.

About halfway through their meal, her uncle spoke up.

"You're going to Tokyo-3 today, aren't you, Rei?"

Rei nodded, looking down. "Yes. I don't really know why I'm bothering, especially after the last time I saw… _him_." There was smouldering rage behind her words.

Daisuke Ikari sighed. Rei was still a troubled child, despite him trying to bring her up as normally as possible. He'd tried to be a father to the stubborn girl, but he could only do so much – his job kept him away more than he'd have liked to. It was the same with his wife. Still, she could have been left with that teacher. Daisuke shuddered. At least with him and Naoko, she had the chance to at least interact properly with people and have a loving home life, even if it wasn't as much as it should have been.

When Gendo had just thrown away the last connection to his dead wife – Daisuke's little sister, he'd just sent her to a teacher friend of his. At four. Daisuke shook his head. She'd been so silent and obviously hurting when he and Naoko had rescued her from the man when she was six. Said teacher had not purposely neglected her; but he clearly had no clue as to raising a child.

At school, Daisuke and Naoko had watched with concern, and then happiness, as Rei, a taciturn and quietly angry little girl had finally made friends –fewer than they'd have liked to see, to be sure, but it was a start- and begun to take part in class again, and maintaining somewhat of a generally positive attitude. Unfortunately, she still never really let anyone in, never really reached out to anybody and so her friendships could never particularly be called 'close', but they were a start.

Though, they knew, her anger and hurt never really went away, she just seemed to channel it into whatever she wanted to – flitting between activities and quickly getting bored of them. Mostly martial arts. She'd train in one for a small amount of time; maybe gain a few belts, but then move onto something else.

Daisuke blamed Kozo Fuyutsuki, who had worked with his sister before her death, as well as his wife, for the martial arts. But he had always been very pleasant whenever he had visited, and Rei had a real shine for him, which almost made him jealous. He noticed Rei staring at him as he reminisced and gathered his thoughts.

"Well, you'll be fine." Daisuke said, smiling reassuringly at her, "you're a strong girl, Rei. Whatever he throws at you, you make sure to throw it right back in his face." He knew that she knew exactly what his opinion of the man Yui had married was. "What time are you leaving?"

"In a few hours… I'm going into the city first and sorting a few things out though, so I'll be setting off in a few minutes, Uncle." Rei said, finishing the last of her breakfast. She put her hands together. "Thank you for the food!" She exclaimed, and stood up, clearing her bowls away. Daisuke watched her as he ate his own breakfast at a more relaxed pace.

Rei finished the dishes and picked up her satchel and another carry bag containing a few more changes of clothes, and some other things, in case she had to stay for a day or so. She walked over to her uncle, who had just stood up, and gave him a rare hug.

"I'll see you soon, Uncle Daisuke." She said, leaning up and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Daisuke ruffled her hair and hugged her back.

"Goodbye, Rei. Good luck, and come back in one piece, okay? And don't forget to say goodbye to your Aunt."

"I will, Uncle." Rei smiled. She walked over to the stairs and walked up them, knocking gently on her uncle and aunt's room door, before sliding it open.

"Come in, Rei." Her aunt said, as she brushed her grey streaked brown hair. "So you're going to him now?"

"Yes, Aunt Naoko. I don't know what he wants, but I'll hopefully be back before the week is out."

"Good. You know both our opinions of that man." Rei nodded. Naoko gestured. "Come over and give your aunt a hug."

Rei did so, and Naoko stroked her hair gently, as if she'd not see Rei for a good long while. It was something she'd never done much with Ritsuko, and she regretted it now, especially since her daughter had stopped talking to her. She'd tried to atone for the poor way she'd raised Ritsuko by trying to make sure Rei had a loving home and family, and by and large, mostly succeeded.

"Listen, Rei. I wanted you to know… I'm very proud of you, okay? And I know your mother would be as well. Look after yourself out there. I'm not entirely sure what that man wants with you, but remember to make the right decisions."

"I will, Aunt Naoko." Rei looked a little uncomfortable at the mention of her mother, but nodded to herself.

"Good girl." Naoko kissed the top of her head and let go. "You'd better get going."

"Okay, Auntie. I'll ring you when I get there, okay?"

"Good. Goodbye, Rei."

"Bye." Rei said as she dashed down the stairs, and picked up her last few bags before opening the door.

"See you soon!" Daisuke shouted.

The door slamming was his only answer as Rei walked out onto the street.

Naoko came down the stairs dressed in her usual attire and sat at the table, after pulling out her breakfast from the oven.

"I hope she'll be alright." She said.

"She's a strong girl. He'll be surprised by her, I'm sure."

"I hope so." Naoko answered, quietly. "We did a good job, right?"

"I should think so. She's shy, she's… angry… but she's not an emotional wreck." Daisuke shrugged. "We did our best. That's all that counts."

"I hope so." Naoko said again.

*** ((("Itadakimasu" is a bit hard to translate directly into English without sounding stupid, so I thought 'why not?' and gave you all some lovely Gratuitous Japanese. Also expect honourifics on the end of names, since they don't translate that well either.))) It basically amounts to "Thank you for the food!" but has a bit more stuff behind it.**

**

* * *

**

The creature swam along the deserted, sunken city. _Swam_ is perhaps not the right word; it held itself perfectly still as it floated along, the only movement the strange gill like appendages on its hips.

It didn't notice its surroundings; only the call it felt to the very fibre of its being. The call to Adam. To Home. To Completion.

Arranged along the waterfront was a mass of tanks, all cannons pointing to one specific area of the new bay, where gutted buildings stood; monuments to the millions of dead that lay beneath the waves.

A seagull fluttered down and landed on one of the barrels before flying away at the sound of an explosion from the water, drenching the shore with spray from a not inconsiderable distance away.

The tanks fired simultaneously, arcing their shells to the giant that was now striding along towards them. Several direct hits were scored, but the giant continued walking, still unaware of its surroundings, but now slightly annoyed at the shells that were buzzing about it like mosquitoes.

* * *

Misato drove along the deserted road.

"Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap!" She muttered. "Why today, of all days, does her train have to stop early? Dammit." She checked the beeping navigator on her dashboard, trying to figure out how to quickly get to the station that the girl's train had stopped at.

Rei was still stood at the train station, cursing her ill luck. Trust the damned thing to run late, AND stop several stops early. And what was with this place? It was quiet – no, silent. She sighed as she looked at the bundle of letters in her hand.

Rei looked down at one of them that had her father's cold handwriting on it, just one word – 'come'. The rest of the document was blacked out with large strokes of a black marker pen.

"Father, why did you call me here, I wonder? Maybe you found Mother alive, and we can have a happy family reunion." Rei snorted. "Yeah, right." She folded the letter back up, sticking it in her pocket. She looked up again. She hadn't been five seconds off the train when there were warning sirens blaring and nobody around. There were no people here; nothing. It was like the entire city had been-

"All residents please note; a special state of emergency has been announced. If you are not in a shelter, please head to the nearest designated shelter. Repeat; this is an automated message to all citizens of a special-"

_Crap_.

She looked down at the photograph that she was holding. A woman in her late twenties was grinning and doing the 'peace' sign, with all too much cleavage showing for Rei's liking. If that wasn't bad enough, there was an arrow pointing towards it with 'look here!' scribbled in untidy handwriting. She sighed again. _Must have thought I was a boy. Great. 'Wait for me to pick you up at 3PM' the note said. She's not here and it's already half past... What to do…_

She walked over to a payphone and struggled with some change before ringing the number she had been given. An automated message picked up and Rei cursed silently again. She looked around as she put the phone down, and then double-taked as she spotted a trio of figures on a nearby road. All three were dressed in odd skintight suits and were looking straight at her. One had deep auburn hair, and was dressed in red. One had short cropped black hair and was dressed in white and blue, and the other had powder blue hair and was dressed in white. _How odd. _One of them gave a shy seeming wave; the black haired one.

She was about to wave back when some birds startled her by flying away, and when she directed her gaze to the road the three had been standing in, it was empty. Rei shrugged. _Okay, probably just me going crazy._

Walking down the street further, trying to find somewhere else to she looked around. _This place is creepy._ She decided. And it was; the streets silent and empty; traffic lights changing randomly, and the overall feeling of desolation, even though everything was practically pristine. The cicadas were buzzing again; as they had been doing for years.

There was a rumble. Rei looked around. The power lines were swaying as if there was a heavy wind, and the birds had fled instantly. Even the cicadas had shut up.

"Another war, perhaps?" She mused. "Great, now I'm stuck in a warzone."

Not too far away, Misato Katsuragi's mind was filled with two words: _Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap._ She gunned the engine of her car and swept down another side street, pulling up at the station, but seeing no sign of the child she had come to pick up.

"Dammitdammitdammit, the Commander's going to have my head because I lost his daughter in the middle of an emergency." She muttered. She restarted the engine and went down another street.

Rei watched the mountains nearby with a vague interest as several VTOL aircraft flew out, all facing something. They were firing weapons, and there was another rumble. Something pink lanced out from behind the hill and one of the craft went down, exploding on the ground.

Something stomped out from behind the hill, and Rei gaped at the bipedal giant walking along. The birdlike mask on its face tilted to one side at the barrage of missiles aimed towards it, and it blinked in what could have been confusion. A roar made Rei jump out of her skin as three cruise missiles blasted down the street past her and towards the monster, smashing right into it with a huge explosion that made the fourteen year old clap her hands to her ears.

When it had died down, she stared again and saw that nothing had happened to the giant. It didn't even seem fazed as another missile bore down it, merely grabbing the missile and letting it detonate in its tridactyl hands. Again, it seemed unharmed by the attacks.

* * *

"The unidentified object is still approaching." The voice rang over the command centre calmly. The map on the screen showed its trajectory. "We have a visual image of the target, transferring to the main screen."

On the screen, the image of the beak masked giant flickered on, and everyone in the centre stared at the otherworldliness of it.

Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki and Commander Gendo Ikari were sat at the back of the room, watching impassively as the giant continued to be attacked.

"It's been fifteen years." Fuyutsuki spoke quietly.

Gendo, sat in his usual pose, stared at the screen calmly. "Yes, it has." He watches as the giant stared straight at the screen. "The Angels…"

* * *

Rei watched, rooted to the spot with a mixture of terror and curiosity as the thing held up its hand and the spike on its elbow glowed before retracing into the arm and exploding out of the palm of the hand in a long pink lance of energy, slicing clean through another VTOL before swinging round and tearing the tail off another.

She watched in horror as the now tailless aircraft careened towards her location, and wisely took a step back as it crunched into a building about twelve feet in front of her. She put her hands to her mouth as the crew desperately tried to get out before a gigantic black foot smashed down on the aircraft.

The craft detonated, and Rei threw her arms up in front of herself in a futile attempt to protect herself from the blast. She heard a screech and simply thought _I'm going to die now_ over and over until she realised that she hadn't. She looked up and there was a blue car pulled up right in front of her with the same woman from her photo motioning quickly at her.

"Get in!"

Rei didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed her bags, jumped in the passenger seat and strapped herself in.

"Hold on!" Misato barked as she reversed the car and drove forwards at a speed that Rei was sure was going to kill them at the next corner they drove around. Another VTOL landed nearby, and Misato swerved out of the way, and onto some kind of main road around a hill. Rei leaned out of the window and watched as the more missiles sped their way to the monster, still doing nothing to it.

* * *

"Missile attack ineffective. Target is still intact and heading towards Tokyo-3." The voice in the command centre was calm and detached to the events unfolding.

The men sat around the table watching the battle on the holoscreen were less detached from the situation. One slammed his hand on the table, making the ashtray bounce and scatter ash and detritus all over the surface.

"Dammit! Mobilise for complete war – send everything we have against it! Just… kill the damned thing!" He growled.

"Our airforce cannot stop it."

"Mobilise all divisions at the Atsugi and Iruma bases! Call down artillery!"

"Artillery strike confirmed."

On the screen, massed tank battalions and rocket artillery continued to pound the monster.

"Don't hold back! Destroy the target at all costs!"

As they watched, the monster systematically waded through the armies ranged against it, destroying all of them in its path as if they were mere annoyances. Which, to something with an AT Field, they were.

"The tank battalion was totally destroyed, guided missiles… artillery, they have no effect…" One general said, his voice quivering.

At the back of the room, sat down at a desk, hands clasped in the usual position they were in, Gendo Ikari watched the proceedings with an almost smug satisfaction. The JSSDF were trying their hardest, he knew, but they were stubborn old men, refusing to acknowledge that without an AT Field to neutralise the Angel's own AT Field, any weapons were useless.

"It's protected by an Absolute Terror Field, as we expected." Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki spoke quietly.

"Yes. Normal weapons have no effect on Angels."

The red phone blared after a few minutes, and the main general slid his ID card through it and picked up.

"Yes?" He gaped in shock, but composed himself. "Y-yes. We'll use that. As previously arranged." He put the phone down and sighed. "Commence N2 strike!"

* * *

Misato had parked the car behind a hill. When Rei had asked about why, Misato shrugged. "Don't want to be in that thing's line of sight, even if it is walking away from us."

It made sense to keep out of the way, even if the monster had seemed to not even notice the car that was tiny to it.

She had then dragged Rei to the top of the hill to watch the battle. Misato's eyes widened as all of the aircraft moved away very quickly from the angel. "Oh shi- Get down!" and she forced Rei to the ground, hiding behind the hill.

There was a flash of blinding white light that seared over the hilltop.

"What was-" Rei started but was drowned out by the biggest explosion yet, and Rei clapped her hands to her ears as the shockwave reached them. Debris flew over the hill, and the heat was oppressive, though Rei was thankful that they weren't close enough to be caught in the explosion. The howling of the pressure-caused wind was ferocious, and the debris didn't seem to be stopping, some of it raining down onto Misato's car, though nothing huge.

When the blast and heat had died down, Misato let Rei stand up, muttering darkly to herself. Rei's ears were ringing, and she winced at every sound.

"We did it!" The general stood up and grinned, turning to the two commanders. "Sorry, but there's nothing left for **you** to do."

Gendo and Fuyutsuki merely stared impassively.

"Incoming shockwave." Rang out and the display turned to static.

"Should have figured they'd use an N2 mine. Are you okay?" Misato asked as she dusted down her black dress. Rei was doing much the same to her now slightly tattered and dirty blouse and nodded.

"Yes, although I ate a bit of dirt when you shoved me down." She sighed.

"That's fine as long as you're okay. Let's get going, now that thing's not so near we can breathe a little easier."

"Yes, Captain Katsuragi-San."

Misato took off her sunglasses and smiled. "Ahh, Misato will do fine. Nice to meet you, Ikari Rei-san."

Rei nodded with a small smile. "You too, Misato-san."

"Well, let's go. Don't want to be later than we already are."

* * *

"Target status?"

"We can't tell due to EMP effects scrambling the sensors."

One of the generals folded his arms and smiled smugly. "It was such a massive explosion. It must have been destroyed."

The screen flickered back on, showing the impact crater.

"Sensors recalibrated."

There was a spike in the middle of the crater on the wireframe screen of the sensors.

"Energy reaction in the centre of the explosion!"

The smirking general stood up in shock, his smug tone gone in an instant. "WHAT!"

"Visual image restored." The screen flickered to an image of the angel standing there, the strange gills on its legs flicking up and down. Damage was already beginning to regenerate as they watched; and from where its beak like head had been, now protruded another mask, seeming to stare right through the camera to the generals. Flesh pulsed in different area; bubbling and looking like it was melting. Blue coloured meat showed up where its skin had been burned off, but which was quickly covered with dark green flesh.

"That was our trump card. Unbelievable!"

"What a demon…"

Several minutes later, a UN Chopper was circling out of range of the energy lances as the crew watched the Angel standing there.

"It's regenerating quickly." Fuyutsuki murmured.

Gendo nodded. "Otherwise it would be useless as an independent weapon."

The eyes on the new mask flashed, causing the screen to black out as the chopper exploded, and the generals to let out more horrified gasps. Fuyutsuki gave a low whistle. "Impressive. It can also enhance its own functions."

"In addition to what seems to be acquired intelligence." Gendo replied.

"It's only a matter of time until the next attack."

Gendo smirked again.

* * *

"The gate is closing. Attention, please. The train is about to depart."

Rei watched interestedly as the door closed behind them to reveal a strange insignia of a fig leaf, behind which were the letters NERV, and the inscription underneath of 'God's in his heaven; All's right with the world.'

The ride here had been relatively straightforward – if you could call Misato's driving straightforward in any way. The only problems had been Misato moaning about her poor partly smashed car, and her nice black dress being damaged. Rei could deal with the clothes; this was one of her favourite blouses, but the car she had less inclination to feel sorry for considering Misato's physics defying driving.

The older woman had had a conversation where it sounded like picking Rei up had been a chore for someone else that Misato appeared to have jumped at.

Pulling herself back to now, she looked at the insignia again. "The special Agency NERV?" she wondered aloud.

"Yep. A special organisation directly attached to the United Nations."

"This is where my father works, isn't it?" Rei muttered. Misato caught the lingering tension in the teenager's voice.

"Yes… do you know what he does?" She asked.

Rei looked down for a moment. "My uncle, my aunt and my other uncle both told me it's an important job to protect the human race." She clenched her hands into a fist. "But he couldn't even protect my mother, so what chance does he have here?"

* * *

The general put the phone down and regarded Gendo Ikari with the sneer he reserved for most of the staff of NERV.

"You're now the commander of this operation. Let's see how _you_ deal with it." He said, clearly still sore from the embarrassment the JSSDF had just suffered.

"Yes, sir."

"Ikari-kun, considering our available weapons… I have to admit that we have no effective way to deal with the target." The calmer general spoke up this time. "Are you absolutely confident you can defeat it? Even an N2 strike only damaged it."

Gendo adjusted his glasses. "Of course. This is why NERV exists."

"Then we expect much of you." The general replied. He pressed a button and their command station moved down to where they could exit the room.

"Target remains unchanged and unmoving."

"Present effective rate of interception is 7.5 percent."

Fuyutsuki turned to Gendo. "The UN troops can't help. Nor can the JSSDF. What are you going to do?"

"I'll activate Unit 01."

Fuyutsuki blinked. "Unit 01? But we don't have a pilot."

Gendo turned around, an echo of the JSSDF General's smug grin on his face. "That… is not a problem. A backup pilot will arrive shortly."

_So that's why he brought her here._ Fuyutsuki thought to himself. _I didn't think it was for some tearful reunion. But seriously, Ikari, why didn't you bring her here beforehand s we could train her?_

Fuyutsuki sighed.

* * *

"Are we going to where my father is?" Rei asked after a few minutes of awkward silence. Misato nodded and clapped shut a small mirror after checking her hair.

"Well… yeah. Yeah we are."

Rei thought back to herself, and fuzzily remembered herself, six years old and crying desperately as her father left her on the entranceway to the Teacher's house, and turned away without a word. Not even a hug, or a farewell kiss. She clenched her fists. _Coward_.

At Rei's downward look and now shaking fists, Misato sighed. Then in true Misato style, she perked up. "Oh, that's right. Did you receive an ID from your father?"

Rei nodded and fumbled around in her satchel, before bringing out a large piece of paper signed by herself, Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki. "Here." She also brought out the black plastic card with 'TEMPORARY ID' scrawled across it.

Misato scanned the document quickly, nodded to herself and handed Rei a booklet stamped with 'FOR YOUR EYES ONLY' and the NERV insignia. 'Welcome to NERV' was written across the top in bold kanji.

"NERV… This is about my father's work." Rei looked at Misato. "So, what, there's something for me to do?"

Misato said nothing, and Rei found herself getting annoyed.

"Figures. He never writes to me unless he wants something. I'm just an object to him, a thing to be used." The pain in her voice reminded Misato of her own feelings regarding her own father – the confusion of love and hate, twisting around your heart and getting so mixed up you couldn't really process it.

"I see. You consider him a tough customer, right?" She winked. "Me too. I've only met him once, and he's like ice. The Vice-Commander's an agreeable enough type though."

"Kozo Fuyutsuki, right?" Rei asked. Misato blinked, looking confused, before Rei answered the unspoken question. "Uncle Kozo used to work with… my mother. I always knew he was my father's stooge, but he was always so nice when he visited..." She didn't say anymore, although Misato looked distinctly intrigued.

_Well, this is… interesting. _Misato thought. Any further thoughts along those lines were dispelled from her mind as the train emerged from the tunnel and Rei gasped in wonder at the scene before her; a beautiful 'valley', underground, with trees, and grass, and a lake, and a huge pyramid in the centre. Bathed in a golden, amber light form the sunset, emanating, somehow, from the ceiling of the cavern, it was a wondrous sight to behold, and dispelled any lingering anger.

"Wow!" She exclaimed, her anger forgotten as she stared down. "A real live GeoFront! I thought they'd only planned these!"

"Yup. This is NERV's secret headquarters. It's also the foundation for rebuilding the world for the human race."

Rei could only stare in wonder as the car-train carried on winding down the edge of the huge cavern.

A few hours later found Rei slowly losing her sense of wonder, and becoming slightly annoyed at Misato's getting them lost. "We've passed this place six times already." She muttered whilst reading through the NERV manual. Misato went red, but grinned.

"Ah, it's alright! Systems exist to be used after all!" She looked down. "Ah, hmm, I'm sorry; I'm not really used to this place." She as cut off as they went along a travelator and through a door into a huge shaft. A wind whipped up, making Misato's dress flutter. "Maan, I really don't like wearing skirts in here! Anyway, where's Ritsuko got to? I paged her ages ago."

The question was answered as they got into an elevator, only for it to stop at the next stop and a blonde woman to walk in wearing nothing but a labcoat over a one piece swimsuit. Misato blinked and stepped back as the blonde woman walked into the small room.

"Ahh… Hey Ritsuko."

_Ritsuko? Wasn't that Auntie Naoko's…?_

"Captain Katsuragi, what are you doing? You know we're short of hands and time!"

Misato grinned and made a gesture. "Eheh… Sorry!"

Dr. Ritsuko Akagi turned her attention to the fourteen year old girl who was eyeing her calmly when she wasn't leafing through the manual.

"So is this the girl?" She asked Misato. Rei felt a distinct wave of displeasure on being dismissed as just 'the girl', and voiced it with a 'humph' before returning to her booklet and shutting out the discussion.

"Yes, according to the Marduk Institute's report, she's the Third Child." Misato replied. Ritsuko gave Rei a look that spelt out more that she was here for a reason, and now she was starting to get the feeling that this reason was something unpleasant.

"Well then, it's nice to finally meet you, Rei Ikari."

Rei raised an eyebrow, but stayed polite, if cold. "Yes, you too."

"Rei-Chan's a bit like a snarky version of her father. Neither one seems really that lovable."

"Stop." Rei growled. Misato blinked at the venom in the girl's voice. "I am nothing like that man. Don't EVER say that about me."

Misato stared at Rei, looking a little hurt, and Ritsuko laughed at the expression on both their faces. Rei decided then and there that she really didn't like something about the blonde woman, this 'Ritsuko'. Where Misato seemed to be an overly cheerful, big sister, bumblingly affectionate type, Ritsuko was definitely a scientist, albeit without the warm heart that her aunt and uncle had. When Ritsuko's gaze passed over her, she got the distinct feeling that it wasn't regarding her as a person at all, but as some kind of tool. A thing to be used and thrown away when it was no longer useful. She hated that feeling.

It felt like the way her father saw her.

* * *

Kozo Fuyutsuki watched as Gendo stood on his personal lift from the command centre.

"Well, I'll leave the rest to you, Vice-Commander."

"Yes." Fuyutsuki said as the lift descended. He looked thoughtful for a second. "Their first meeting in three years." He remembered the aftermath of the last meeting well; it had transferred the tiny amount of affection Gendo had left for his daughter over to the First, or as the man himself had put it 'the First is less likely to savagely punch me in the groin'.

Granted, what both of them had said at that meeting was unpleasant, and they were both as much to blame as each other.

"Vice-Commander, the target has begun to move again." Makoto Hyuga spoke up, pulling Fuyutsuki out of his reverie.

"Roger! All hands to battle stations."

* * *

Rei was looking at the huge purple tank behind her, or what looked like a tank, anyway. She'd gotten bored of the manual, and was looking around with interest as the lift they were on ascended.

"Repeat; all hands to battle stations. Prepare to intercept the enemy on the ground." She heard an announcement stating.

"Hear that?" Misato asked. Ristuko nodded. Somehow along the way they'd found time for her to change into her proper clothes, even though Ritsuko had been complaining the whole time. Misato had pulled her jacket out of somewhere, as well.

"It's getting serious."

"By the way…" Misato began. Rei turned again to look at the purple walls and spotted some kind of formless shadow that she couldn't quite make out. "How is Unit One?"

Rei was still trying to figure out what was behind the semi-translucent 'glass' as the two older women spoke.

"It's configured with Type-B equipment. It's being cooled right now." Ritsuko replied.

"Do you think it'll activate? I heard that it hasn't worked yet. Not even once."

"Well…" Ritsuko began. "The possibility of it activating is 0.0000000001 percent. Oni system seems like a good name for it." The doctor smiled as if at some personal joke.

"You mean it won't wor-"

"Holy shit, it's a hand." Rei muttered to herself, catching the attention of the two women. "It's a huge hand…"

"Language, Rei-chan." Misato warned. Ritsuko just looked mysterious. Rei shrugged.

She'd seen one giant monster already, what was to say there weren't more, although this one looked like it wasn't moving. Maybe it was dead? Or maybe it was some kind of freaky statue?

Misato returned to her own conversation. "So, you mean it won't work, don't you?"

"That's rude!" Ritsuko huffed. "It's not zero!"

"It's only a number. Anyway, to say 'it doesn't work at all' will be no excuse when the Commander wants it ready." Misato retorted.

The lift reached where they were going, and Rei found herself being bundled into a small motorboat. "Who the hell puts a lake in the middle of a fortress?" Rei yelled over the noise. Misato didn't have an answer; mostly she looked like she was enjoying the speed of the boat. Maybe a bit too much.

Rei again could make out some blurry shapes in the 'water' they were on, but they were moving too fast for her to make anything proper out. Once they'd got to the opposite 'shore', she was bundled through a door and into a dark room, where she was propelled along until the door slammed shut and they were shunted into blackness.

"What's going on? It's far too dark in he-" Ritsuko grinned pressed a button on something inside her labcoat. Instantly the lights flickered on, and Rei shielded herself from the light until she's gotten used to it. Then she stared in amazement and dawning horror at what was in front of her. "Holy shi-"

"_Rei_…" Misato began. Rei ignored her and began thumbing through the manual trying to find something about the thing in front of her. A huge purple face, bestial and radiating a sense of something barely under control. Something about it seemed horrifyingly familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"A… A robot?" Rei exclaimed, and Ritsuko smirked again.

"You won't find this in the manual." She began. "This is humanity's Multi-Purpose Humanoid Fighting Machine; The Artificial Human, Evangelion." She waved at the monstrosity. "This is Unit 01. Built in secrecy, it is mankind's last hope."

"So this is what you were working on, Father." Rei muttered.

"That's right!" Rei looked up at a window above, and sure enough, there was her father, Gendo Ikari. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Rei looked up with a glare that rivalled Sachiel's eye beam. "Hello _father_. How's the groin?"

Gendo regarded back with an icy cold stare. He grinned at her rage-filled look.

"Prepare to move out."

"What?" Misato exclaimed. "But Sir! Unit 00 is still dam-" She turned to the purple monster next to her. "Unless… You don't mean to activate Unit 01?"

"We don't have a choice, Misato." Ritsuko began, annoyed, but was cut off.

"We can't have Rei pilot it!" Rei started in shock at her own name. "We have no pilots!"

"I knew it." Rei muttered.

"One just arrived." Ritsuko frowned. Rei narrowed her eyes. Strangely enough, so did Misato.

"You can't be serious."

Ritsuko turned to Rei. "Ikari Rei-"

"I'm not piloting that thing! No way! God, I thought this sort of stuff happens only in television shows!"

"It took Ayanami Rei seven months to synchronise with Eva. It's impossible! She only just arrived!" Misato exclaimed.

Rei blinked. Her name again. "Who…"

"All we're asking is for you to sit in it. We don't expect anything more than that." Ritsuko said, a little gentler than before.

"But..." Misato started.

"At present, intercepting the Angel's attack is our top priority. Even is there is little potential of synchronising with Eva. We have no choice. Do you understand, Captain Katsuragi?"

Misato looked down at Rei. "You may be right…"

Rei just stared back up at her father, hating that self-satisfied smirk of his. "So you called me here to pilot a giant robot. Wow, you really just didn't want me to come say 'hello', did you?"

"Exactly as you think."

"Oh, so sending your fourteen year old daughter out in a machine she's never seen before, and fight a giant monster, oh, that's absolutely _fine_, but being a real father isn't?"

"Rei…" Misato put a hand on her shoulder. She shook it off, glaring at the older woman before turning her attention back to her father.

"I came here for one reason, and one reason only, and that was to tell you to your face what a cruel, jaded and downright horrible man you are. You're a dick, father. I'm going to carve my own life out here, and I won't rely on you to help me with it." She took a deep breath and screamed. "I HATE YOU!"

"I only called you because I need you now." Gendo began. Misato looked down at the girl next to her who looked like she was ready to jump up to where he was and punch him.

"Why me, then? Why not any one of your staff here?"

"Because others can't."

"I've never seen this thing in my life, so how the hell do you expect me to be able to pilot it?"

"Listen to her explanation." Gendo was still impassive.

"I can't! It's impossible, and dammit, I wouldn't do it for YOU anyway! You'd be sending me to my death! Or is that what you want?"

It was now that Gendo started to get annoyed. "If you're going to get in the damn thing, get in. Stop wasting time! Otherwise just go home, run away like a coward!"

Rei blinked. "How dare YOU call me a coward?" She shouted. "After all YOU have done!"

Gendo paused for a moment, and then turned to one of the screens next to him. "Fuyutsuki, send Rei up here. The Spare is useless."

"Is she usable?"

"She's not dead."

The lift nearby opened, and several doctors walked out of it, trundling along a gurney that held a pale girl swathed in bandages and bleeding. She had blue hair and Rei's only thought as she approached was '_she looks like me'._

"Rei." Gendo's tone seemed gentler somehow. Rei Ikari started.

"What?" She asked, but was cut off by a voice from the gurney.

"Yes, Sir?" The girl's breathing was laboured and she struggled to sit up, gasping for air.

"Our spare pilot is useless. You will pilot Unit 01."

"Yes Sir."

There was a blast as the monster above directed energy down through a building, that expanded into an upside-down cross.

"It's getting closer!" Ritsuko exclaimed, and was cut off by a rumble as a building fell onto the NERV from the top of the Geofront. Several lights dangled precariously, and the gurney fell over, the girl landing heavily on the metal floor. Rei had run to reach her, but found her clothes being covered with blood as the girl gasped with pain.

The one of the large halogen lights snapped and fell, right on top of both girls, and Misato screamed as everything went into slow motion.

SMASH.

The light bounced off a giant purple hand and smacked into the window in front of Gendo, who was smiling triumphantly. Ritsuko Akagi had landed on her ass as the rumbling had started and was staring in shock at the hand, which trailed wires and pieces of metal.

"It moved… There's no power source, or anything! That's not possible… It's not…" She looked to where Rei Ikari was holding the bleeding girl, gently, almost like a mother. "Was she protecting her?"

Misato stared at the scene, Rei Ikari helping Rei Ayanami up onto the gurney as she righted it, and holding the girl's hand, stroking it softly. Then, she turned to Gendo, and her every word afterwards was dripping with sheer, unadulterated _hatred_.

"You _bastard_." She clenched her fist and then pointed at the Evangelion which still seemed to be regarding her with what felt like either hostility or warmth. Possibly both. "Fine. I'll pilot it, this once. But not for you. _Never _for you. For this girl here, who you would have die for you and throw away like an old toy." She faced her father who merely looked bored at her statements, as if he'd been expecting them. "Like you did to _me. That's _why I'll pilot it_."_

"I care little for your reasoning; only that you pilot." Gendo intoned. He turned to Misato."Prepare the Evangelion for launch!"

* * *

_What am I doing?_ Flickered through Rei Ikari's mind for what felt like the millionth time that day. After facing off with her father, Ritsuko and Misato had bundled her into a side room where she'd left her bags and been told to remove her shoes and socks, and then dragged to another room where they had given her a weird headset to wear. Then they'd shuffled her into a room that led onto a walkway that led to the… thing's… cockpit. If you could call it that.

It wasn't very comforting. Sure, the 'throne' as they had called it supported her back in the right places, and wasn't too hard, on the contrary the seat was just soft enough for her to sit quite comfortably, but there was something disconcerting about sitting in it, even if it had some cushioning. At her left and right were joysticks that she couldn't fathom a use for, considering that there were precious few other active controls. Rei had caught enough _Gundam Wing_ (not the _whole_ series, and not _just _because there was something incredibly sweet about Quatre, honestly) and some other robot shows to realise that it took more than two handles to drive a robot. Sure, there were a few other switches on the controls, and maybe a few buttons that weren't even labelled, but still.

The bare walls of the cockpit were also problematic. How was she supposed to see anything from inside a giant metal tube? Also, that. It felt like she was poised on some kind of log flume ride. It didn't help that the whole thing felt like a gigantic metal coffin.

In the control room, Ritsuko and Maya Ibuki were poring over the data as the ground teams worked on starting the Evangelion up.

"Cooling completed, setting for transfer to dock with cages."

"Roger." Maya stared with trepidation at the screen. "The stop signal plug has been discharged."

"Roger that. Inserting Entry Plug."

There was a sudden click, and a feeling of motion as the Plug was lowered and then swivelled into place, and finally, a muffled clank as the armour plates locked themselves into place, sealing Rei inside.

"Plug locked into place."

"Begin first connection." Maya ordered.

"Roger."

Rei watched with a detached interest as the cockpit around her began to flash in various colours, even as she felt something inside her mind expanding. The walls flickered in strange colours, and she got a rush of vertigo as she looked 'down' at the far wall of the plug.

"Inject LCL into entry plug."

Rei watched with a similar mild interest that turned to horror as a strange orange liquid began filling the coffin-like cockpit.

"What the-" She was cut off as it passed her head and she had to hold her breath.

Misato frowned, but Ritsuko spoke up. "Don't worry; after your lungs fill up with LCL it will directly supply you with oxygen."She paused. "You'll get used to it soon!"

Rei didn't believe her and held her breath until she could no more, it exploded out of her and she found herself breathing in mouthfuls of the… stuff. LCL, was it that that Doctor woman had called it? It felt like breathing in vomit, and tasted like coughed up blood. It disgusted Rei to her core.

"Charge LCL." Ritsuko ordered, and being electrically charged seemed to clear the stuff up, for the most part. It didn't _completely_ feel like breathing vomit anymore, but the gag reflex was still there in the back of her throat. Fortunately, it seemed to have the added effect of making the stuff almost as light as air. Almost.

"I feel like I'm gonna hurl." She muttered, and Misato took over the comms.

"You're all right, aren't you? Grow up!"

_I'm not even fifteen yet, god._ Rei thought, but knew better than to voice that opinion.

"Umbilical cable connected. Transmitting power to all circuits."

"Second contact starting. The connection of the A-10 nerve is operational."

Rei watched as the entry plug began to flash colours again, then a pulse ran up, converting the strobing colours to a long rainbow, and then to white, and then blackness, which became spider webbed with white, and then the webs joined a view of the outside, broken up into large segments.

"Setting Japanese as command interface."

_That was pretty cool._ Rei thought to herself. She felt the back of her neck itching faintly, and tried to ignore it. Then _something_ seemed to worm its way into the back of her head; a feeling, an idea, whatever you'd call it.

_**A familiar stranger/Person/Object/Unfamiliar Thing**_

Rei looked around, wondering what was going on. The thought came again, and then whatever it was faded mostly out and sat in the back of her head, like a pulsing headache that wasn't so much painful, as slightly distracting.

**Watch/learn/integrate**

"All contacts are good." Ritsuko noted, not seeing Rei's movements and bewilderment.

"Connect the mutual lines." Maya watched as a 3D graph spiralled round and licked into place. Her eyes widened. "Synchronisation Rate is holding at a steady 41.3%."

Ritsuko whistled and smiled. "Without a Plugsuit, too! We can do this!" She turned to Misato. The Captain nodded and turned to the rest of the Bridge Crew.

"Ready Unit One for launch!" She ordered, and the ground crew began their work; first separating the head armour from its restraints. Large cylindrical bolts emerged from the sides of the section the arms were locked into, and the entire umbilical bridge that Rei had been stood on not ten minutes before began to move away from the monster she sat in.

Rei watched all of this with an almost calm detachment, all the while thinking that the security around the Evangelion was somewhat excessive. If she was the only person who could pilot the damned thing, then why on earth would it need so much protection? _Not like anyone can steal something like this…_

"Umbilical bridge cleared. Moving Launch Cradle to position seven!" One of the crew ordered, and the purple behemoth was loaded onto a platform and then locked into place above a magnetic catapult. A tunnel overhead began to open up as hatches separated and formed a passageway to the surface. Rei felt a tingle of fear down her spine. The… _thing_… was up there, and it probably knew she was coming.

On the bridge, Misato nodded appreciatively as the Evangelion was readied for launch, and as it finally latched into place, she turned to where Gendo Ikari sat, in his customary position; hands interlinked in front of his face, obscuring his mouth.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" She asked. Gendo looked impassive as always, although she could see an oddly out of place look of concern on the Sub-Commander's face.

"Yes. If we don't defeat the Angels, humanity has no future." Gendo replied calmly. Fuyutsuki leaned in a little closer, and Gendo noted the obvious concern he had for the Third with slight disgust.

"Ikari, are you really sure?" He asked. Gendo just smirked underneath his hands.

Misato turned back to the crew. "Launch the Eva!"

* * *

_**Sachiel, Angel of Water**_

Inside the entry plug of Evangelion Unit One, Rei squirmed and tried to stop herself from feeling like she was being compressed into a fine paste as the Evangelion rushed upward at extremely high speeds. She looked up to see a hatch opening and several bolts sliding up before she hit the top, stopping with pressure equal to when the lift had fired. The Evangelion's head slammed up as well, giving her a view of what lay before her – the monster from earlier.

It was even uglier now – the mask with the long beak was slowly being subsumed by the flesh on its 'face', while the new mask with a shorter 'beak' stared at her with blank red and glowing eyes. Various parts of it bulged and pulsated as it continued to regenerate and adapt. The core on its chest glowed an angry red suddenly, and she knew it had seen her. She was hard to miss after all, what with being in a gigantic robot.

_You can do it, Rei-chan._ Misato thought to herself. Then she looked at Rei's image on the screen. The girl looked nervous, terrified even, but there was that same steel resolve she'd seen when she was shouting at her father – an odd focused look.

"Are you ready, Rei-chan?"

_No._ "Yes, Misato-san."

"Very well, Evangelion Unit One: Lift off!" Misato shouted, and the last of the restraints unlocked from the giant's arms. It settled into somewhat of a slouched position. Rei took the butterfly grips next to her and gripped them hard, feeling another odd sensation washing over her – a kind of 'melting' feeling, as if she were disappearing away and becoming part of something else… She shook her head, clearing it up, and the feeling went as the previous one had; an odd pulsing in the back of her head and on the top of it where that odd headset was.

Ritsuko was being a little more practical while Rei was trying to keep a hold on what was going on and began to give her own orders. "Okay, Rei, I want you to concentrate on the _idea_ of walking."

"What do you mean?" Rei asked, bewildered.

"I mean think about walking, try to walk without _actually_ walking." Ritsuko replied easily. Rei looked unconvinced, but nodded.

"Fine." She muttered, and thought about walking – like sending the signals down to her own legs to move, the idea of just walking along flashing through her mind.

**Walk/Motivate/Ambulate? Forwards?**

The behemoth moved, lifting one foot up, and dropping it in front of itself, flexing the foot armour and smashing a phone box that was in the way. Sachiel regarded the Evangelion from its position and cocked its mask to one side, trying to figure out the thing in front of it.

"It's walking!" Ritsuko exclaimed. "Take another step, Rei-chan!"

Rei concentrated again, and the behemoth lifted its foot, before losing its balance and falling to one knee, then straight onto its face. Rei held a hand to her now-bleeding nose and let out a yelp. Reaching up to it, she felt it, and another burst of pain went through her face. She looked up and saw the Angel standing over her, looking like it was about to pick her up. Rei reacted; rolling to the side so it missed.

Then she crashed face first into a building. Wincing, Rei looked around and saw the Angel approaching again, and scrambled out of the way in pure terror; her heart thumping. She backed up away from it, and cursed as she found herself cornered. She kicked out as it continued to approach her, and it reacted faster than she had ever thought was possible for something so large; stamping down with a suddenly enlarged leg onto the Eva's limb.

Rei felt an impact in her own leg, screaming out in pain and almost blacking out before shaking herself and feeling at her leg. It didn't feel broken, and she poked it with no effect.

"Rei! That wasn't your leg that was damaged! It was just feedback from the Eva! Get up!" Misato yelled. Rei looked up and her eyes widened when she saw the Angel bearing down on her and reaching out for her, gripping the head of the Eva.

Rei felt the Eva being lifted off its feet and into the air and gasped in terror, adrenaline coursing through her system.

"Rei!" Misato shouted as the Angel picked up the Evangelion's arm and proceeded to try to tear it out of the socket. There was the groan of straining metal and armour as the Angel's arms bulked up as they had when it caught the missile.

Rei was panicking, her arm having gone up into a very uncomfortable position as the Eva's own arm was pulled. Her breath came in gasps, and she closed her eyes in the pain, gritting her teeth.

"Rei, stop it! That's not your arm!" Misato shouted.

"Synchro rate spiking! Pilot Protection System not engaging, Eva rejecting!" Maya reported. Ritsuko leaned in close.

"What about the AT Field?"

"Detecting no field generation from Eva!"

"What?" Ritsuko stepped back, looking at the screen again. She ran a nervous hand through her bottle-blonde hair. "Automatic defence systems?"

"Not functioning!"

The arm finally couldn't take the immense strain imposed upon it, and a loud snap reverberated around the area and into the HQ.

Rei screamed and fell back in her seat, clutching at her arm, tears freely flowing down her face and floating into the LCL. She gritted her teeth, and then looked up to the screen just in time to see the odd gem in the centre of the Angel's hand light up.

"Rei, look out!"

The spike on the elbow began to glow a pink, and then slammed forwards, the spike meeting the mask of the Evangelion. With loud smashes it began slamming against it, and Rei clutched onto her own eye, scrabbling at the controls with one hand.

With a final smash and Rei's scream, the blade pierced the Evangelion's eye, smashed out through the back of its head and threw it against a building. The Eva's broken arm slammed down onto the building next to it, and the cyborg's head slumped before great jets of red fluid spurted out from either side of the wound. The remaining eye dimmed, as did the neon green strips along the armour.

"Head damaged!" Makoto reported.

Maya pressed a few buttons and then turned to Ritsuko. "Trouble maintaining activation!"

"Evangelion Unit 01 has gone completely silent!" Aoba shouted, somewhat unnecessarily. The screen merely showed the darkened Eva with its hand resting on a building, completely unmoving as the Angel advanced on it.

Time seemed to slow.

Rei watched the darkened entry plug with her remaining eye and shrieked in pure, unbridled terror and pain. The LCL next to her face was milky with the remnants of her right eye and the flesh around it, and it seemed to be some dark miracle that kept the girl alive and not allowing her to succumb to the shock. The eye socket dripped blood onto her blouse as she screamed, droplets floating around the liquid environment as the LCL randomly charged and discharged.

She took a deep breath and let out another scream, then lapsed into terrified mumbling.

"I don't want to die, oh god it hurts, it hurts so much, but I don't want to die, oh god…" repeated itself from her mouth over and over.

And something, deep and dark within the beast she sat in heard.

**RAGE! PAIN! HATERAGEPAINRAGEHATE! KILL! KILLKILLKILLKILLKILL!**

There was the sound of a heartbeat, and a flicker of blue flared to life in front of her eyes. Rei stared with her good eye at it.

Then everything flashed a bright white to her.

"Synchrograph has reversed! The pulses are flowing backwards!" Maya said as she regarded the screen in front of her, pushing a few buttons. "Pilot monitoring is down! We don't know if she's alive or dead!"

"Rei-chan!" Misato whispered, clutching at the cross around her neck.

"Misato!" Ritsuko barked, turning around. The Captain nodded and turned to Aoba.

"So much for this time. Eject the entry plug! Pilot protection is our main priority!"

Behind her, Gendo Ikari seemed about to give an order, but was cut off by Maya Ibuki near shouting her reply.

"We can't! The Evangelion is completely unresponsive!"

"What?" Misato yelled.

There was a sudden grinding noise, and then an odd metallic shrieking swept across all of the comms channels.

And then the Evangelion lifted its head, one eye blazing to life with an unholy white light. The head strained, and the jaw part of the head popped open, revealing red, tombstone like teeth. A bolt on the end strained and then exploded, a hiss of steam escaping the cyborg's mouth as it raised its head to the heavens and roared defiance at them, blood still dripping from its destroyed eye.

"E-eva reactivated." Maya reported. Misato blinked and took a step back.

"Impossible…" Ritsuko said in shock.

"It can't be…"

"…Berserk?" Ritsuko finished for Misato. She turned to Maya. "Note down the synchro fluctuations, now!"

Unit 01 stood, then knelt and jumped at the Angel, landing on its face and driving it to the floor, grabbing at the new 'face' of the Angel with its good hand, pulling at it until the Angel threw it off and tried to stand.

The Eva flipped itself over as it flew through the air, landing on its feet with its back to the Angel. It turned around with a low growl and stared for a moment as the Angel tried to stand.

"We've won." Fuyutsuki commented as the Eva ran, roaring, at the Angel. Gendo merely continued to smirk as his plan for this operation came to fruition.

The Angel managed to lift itself upright, but only just in time to raise an orange, octagonal field that the rampaging cyborg smashed into with a surprised growl.

"An AT Field!" Ritsuko exclaimed. "Dammit, as long as the Angel's putting an At Field out, the Eva can't touch it!"

Unit 01 roared again, then stepped back and brought its left hand up. A strange light seemed to play over the wounded limb and then flesh bubbled out of the broken segment of armour, merging and melting around before twisting the arm back into a normal position, knitting together bone and flesh with alarming speed before knitting together the armour over it.

"Left arm restored!" Aoba reported.

"Incredible…" Misato whispered to herself.

The Eva then put two hands at the centre of the AT Field and began to pull, snarling.

"Unit 01 is manifesting an At Field of its own! It's neutralising the phase space!" Maya said.

"No, it's not neutralising it…" Ritsuko replied, leaning down over Maya and getting a closer look at the readout. "It's _eroding _it!"

The Eva tore through the Field and screamed its defiance at the Angel before a blast of light flew from the monster's eyes, catching Unit 01 off guard and knocking it down the street a few metres. The energy careened past the Eva and exploded into a cross shape.

The Evangelion rocked on its heels then stood upright and bellowed another challenge, running straight at the Angel and grabbing it in a tackle, smashing it through a building and using its momentum to slam into another building with a loud snapping noise. The Eva roared again and pulled at the Angel's exposed 'ribs', ripping one out and sending it spinning to the side, where it embedded in a building. It picked up the Angel in a bear hug, then raised it into its hands and brought the Angel's back down onto one knee, snapping whatever spine was inside the Angel.

There was an inhuman scream as the Angel's eyes flashed impotently; the energy of the beam flying out into the night sky. Evangelion Unit 01 screamed in answer and then threw the Angel against another building, then smashing it through.

Roaring again as the Angel fell limply to the ground behind the destroyed block, it leaned down, grabbed the flesh of the thing's chest and pulled, ripping huge chunks out, spraying bluish blood all over the surrounding areas.

"Holy shit." Was all Misato could dredge up.

Maya turned away from the screen, almost throwing up. The remainder of the Bridge Crew watched in sick fascination as the Eva proceeded to tear more bits off the Angel, pulling out organs and entrails, before pulling another of the exposed bones and then smashing it into the core, cracking the huge red gem in several places before another lucky hit landed where it was already cracked, widening the hole.

The Angel screamed again and suddenly its flesh was pliable. It dragged itself up around Unit 01, and began to glow. Then it dissolved into read liquid, which began to glow and then exploded into the shape of a cross; a rainbow arcing over the cross.

"The Eva… was it…?" Misato began, but was cut off by a loud booming sound through the pitter-patter of the red liquid raining upon the floor of the city and washing down the storm drains. Unit 01 was walking along slowly with a swinging, lumbering gait, before coming to a stop as the 'rain' ended, between two miraculously intact buildings.

The armour of the giant glowed a brilliant orange in the dawning light; the purple muted for now. Dented, scratched, buckled, it nonetheless had withstood the explosion. The Evangelion growled once more; a low, rumbling sound that spoke of death. Then its eyes dimmed.

"Is that the Eva's…"

"True potential?" Misato finished for Ritsuko, a thought drifting through her mind that scared her on a level she couldn't quite comprehend. _And what happens when we don't need these things anymore? Will they go berserk like this?_

* * *

"Communications restored. Pilot vital signs confirmed, but weakening. Graphs show severe injuries have been sustained." Aoba reported. "I've despatched medical teams and salvage teams to rescue the pilot and retrieve the Evangelion."

Rei stared out of her good eye as she came to, not remembering passing out, nor anything after her frantic, terrified shrieking. The light all around her, barring the right side of the cockpit which was greyed out or showing static, was orange with the newly dawning day. A shadow fell across the display before a loud crash sounded from the ground around the feet of the robot she was sat in.

She looked to the left where a brilliant green eye was watching her in the reflection, with three small pupils around a single large one. The front of the armour on the head had fallen off and she regarded not the insides of some robot, not a mechanical skull, but the undeniable flesh of a living being.

She felt a stab in the socket where her eye had been before looking through the one camera on that side that had survived into the reflection, just to catch the flesh around where the cyborg's right eye had been starting to ripple and shudder before an eye squelched into existence at roughly the same time as something squelched into her own eye socket, pulling together the material that had just been floating in front of her face. The flesh around her right eye buckled, swelled and rippled and finally healed itself, leaving only thin white scars to show the damage that had been done to her.

Rei roared in pain, ignoring the chatter of the bridge crew as they set about rescuing her, putting a hand to her newly grown eye as it adjusted to her and catching the also newly regrown eye of the Evangelion staring at her. Not at the wall, not at its own reflection, but at_ her_. As if it could see into her very soul.

Rei shrieked again, began to hyperventilate, and then simply passed out from shock and pain.

* * *

**A/N Well there's chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed it - I appreciate ConCrit very well, so please tell me if something is off! I am going somewhere with the Pilot Protection System thingy and the much nastier sympathetic injuries to the Eva.**

**Until next time!**


	3. Unfamiliar Ceiling, A Place to Call Home

_**Reaching Out**_

_**A Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfiction**_

_**Chapter 2 – Unfamiliar Ceiling/A Place to Call Home**_

* * *

_A studio. The NERV logo is flashing on a screen; it looks professional, Spartan. Not a chat show – more like a serious discussion show. For a few minutes, Rei is floating both in the LCL of Unit 01's Entry Plug and, invisible to the people in the room, the studio. If she concentrates; she can make out voices._

_The people are fuzzy as she strains to hear what is being said. One figure, a woman has introduced herself and the other woman who looks familiar. _

"You knew the Children well, then." While it's not a question, it's obvious the host is genuinely curious, not just reading off the clipboard. The woman sitting across from her is playing with her hair nervously, but her head snaps up when the question is asked.

A deep breath. "Yes." A sigh. "Yes I knew them. Very well. I mean, it wasn't just my job; it was my responsibility to know them." The woman shuffles in her chair.

"Would you mind tell us some things about them? All anyone's had to go on were impressions and the official information, which is sparse at best. I know there were security concerns and wanting them to have a normal life, but it doesn't particularly matter anymore. Hearing about them from someone who actually knew them would be an interesting experience."

"Any particular one?" Another sigh, slightly wistful.

"Rei would be a good start."

A humourless laugh. "Ikari or Ayanami?"

"Let's start with the Third Child. Rei Ikari." The host shifts slightly in her seat and glances at the screen where an image of the girl's NERV ID card was up, with some information obscured. A girl with short, dark brown hair and pale blue eyes stares at them through the screen, a serious expression on her face.

"As good a one as to start with..." The woman looks about, collecting her thoughts for a moment. "Rei…" A pause. "Rei was… Well, Rei. All the pilots had their share of problems. Us forcing them into humongous mecha to fight giant monsters didn't exactly help matters."

She straightens up her NERV dress uniform subconsciously. "I think out of all of them she just wanted a normal life the most. She was…" Another pause. "She was, well… She-" A nervous laugh. A slight sniffle. "I'm sorry. It's… It's… hard. To think about them, I mean. To talk about them. I miss her. I miss them all."

"I understand. I'm sorry that it's hard, but people would like to know. That's why you're here tonight. Continue. Please."

She sighs again, wiping at her eyes. The audience watches with a slightly muted disinterest. The host gives her a moment, and then touches her on the hand. "I'm sorry that this dredges up bad memories. We all know what happened that day."

The woman sniffles again and forces a smile, patting the host's hand with her own. "…It's okay. They're… not all bad memories. There are a lot of good ones. More good than bad, I'd say." She looks thoughtful. "Like the time we went to a ramen stand after one of the attacks…" She shakes her head and runs her fingers through her dark, vaguely purple tinged hair. "It seems so long ago…"

"So, Rei Ikari…" The host prompts.

"Yeah. Well, I had only a vague idea of what she was like at the time from prelim psych evaluations. First impressions were of a loud, angry, tomboyish girl, someone very conflicted. She got in the Eva after a screaming match with her father, but only after he goaded her into it. After that…"

"We've seen the tapes. Well, the publicly released ones."

"Yes." A slight shudder. "And that was one of the more straightforward battles, but back to Rei. I suppose really getting to know her started when she woke up after the battle."

"When you took her in?"

Misato Katsuragi laughs; the first genuine smile she's had for the entire interview showing on her face.

"Yeah. Rei was the first one I had living with me. I didn't even know at the time why I did it. But that's when I started to get to know her. I found out pretty quickly that my first impressions of her weren't really that accurate."

"In what way?"

"She wasn't really that loud, nor was she that much of a tomboy; she could be more feminine than me at times. It was more like…"

"Like?" The host asks after a pause. Misato shakes her head, cutting off the slight sob that was threatening to come out.

"Like she just didn't really care for herself other than the basic necessities. It was as if she didn't trust anyone, not even herself. Like she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop." The woman takes a deep breath. "She seemed so lonely behind all the anger, but so resigned to being alone that at the same time it didn't matter anymore. It was… well, sad, really."

_She speaks for the first time as the vision wears off and the bare, metal walls of the Entry Plug become visible again._

"_That wasn't real."_

_**No, not yet.**_

"_Time travel?"_

_**Think of it as a possibility, Rei Ikari.**_

"_Who are you?" She asks. The voice remains silent. "Why do you know me? Are you the Angel, or something else?"_

_There is no answer._

* * *

_**Unfamiliar Ceiling**_

Rei Ikari opened her eyes and stared at the white, sterile ceiling above her. She wondered for a moment where she was. Everything around her was fuzzy and indistinct, and she couldn't see out of her right eye. Sound seemed to be muffled, deadened, and she felt a curious sense of peace. She let out a slow sigh.

"I guess I'm still alive, then." She mumbled to herself, and closed her eyes, nestling in the peaceful zone for a minute or so.

Then, as good things do, it came to an abrupt end. The world became focused again with a sharp ache that ran through most of her body. Her back hurt, her legs hurt. Her arm was throbbing, and she had a headache that felt like a troll was trying to escape using a large hammer. Her right eye itched abominably and she tried to scratch it, only to find bandages in the way. The back of her head hurt, too.

_**The feeling as her arm was crushed between a tridactyl hand that was entirely too strong for its size.**_

Rei shivered as the sensation ran through her, then looked down at her left arm and stared at the support around it. It was a reinforced splint, blue in colour, with strapping to keep it on. It looked like the sort of splint you would have for a sprain.

_What happened?_

She felt a pain in her leg; and the slight bulge under the thin hospital covers showed a similar splint around it. An image flashed into her head.

_**A giant with a beaked face, stamping down on her leg. Pain, pain and more pain.**_

Rei whimpered quietly, and then caught onto a loud snoring that surprised her with the fact that she hadn't heard it before. She looked to the right and saw a chair next to the bed with Misato Katsuragi sprawled on it, head leaned back, eyes closed and dead to the world.

This was when she finally sat up. She instantly regretted it, and fell back to the covers with an explosive sigh. Most of her hurt in some way.

A particularly loud snore and cough caught her attention as Misato quite literally snored herself awake and stared around in confusion for a moment before brightening up when she saw Rei was awake.

"Good morning, Rei-chan!" She said cheerfully. Rei winced as Misato's entirely too chirpy voice made her headache worse. Misato seemed to cotton on pretty fast and continued a little more quietly. "How are you feeling?"

Rei thought for a moment and came to a definite conclusion. "…Awful."

"Not surprising."

"What… happened?" Rei asked.

"You don't remember? The Eva went berserk. You… Well, you beat the Angel, and that's all there is to say, really."

"I did?"

"Yup!" Misato declared, standing up and stretching. "Whew, all this napping here has given me a kink in my back. The last couple of days have been rough."

"I… How long was I out?" Rei asked, confused.

"Uh… let's see, you were in the hospital in real bad condition for at least three days. Then you were asleep for about two." Misato said, an out of place cheerful smile on her face. "I think you nearly went under from the shock to your system right after the battle. You're all better now, though. Ritsuko seems to be a bit of a miracle worker. She says it was just the Eva, but to be honest, I think she had a hand in it."

While Misato continued to babble on about this and that to Rei, which she found oddly comforting, the girl sat up again and swung her legs over the bed, wincing at the movement.

"U-um, Misato-san?"

Misato stopped in her reminiscence about a particularly bad date and blinked, realising she was rambling. "I…uh… Sorry about that. I've not had much sleep in the last couple of days. What's up?"

"Did my uncle and aunt come to see me at all?"

Misato frowned and looked thoughtful. "Hmmm. Last I'd heard there _were_ a couple of civilians trying to gain access to see you. One of them looked like Ritsuko, thinking about it." She tapped her finger on her lip. "I… Well, we'll get them around when we get home!" She brightened up considerably.

_Home…_ Rei thought. That's where she wanted to go. She'd done what they wanted; she could go back.

"Misato-san?" Rei said in a small voice. "Um, can I go home now? Back to Tokyo-2, I mean."

Misato put a hand on Rei's shoulder, the girl flinching at the contact, but her face told the girl before she could say anything.

"That's a no, isn't it?" She said, looking down.

"Yes, Rei-chan. I'm sorry, but as our only functional pilot, you have to stay here in Tokyo-3 in case of another Angel attack."

_**Staring in terror as the giant advances on her and she skitters out of the way. Too slowly.**_

Rei wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "Why me?" She whispered. "Why not an adult? Why not someone _qualified_?"

Misato frowned. "I… don't know. But we'll find out. I'd like to know as well." She knelt down next to Rei and looked her in the eye. "Look, Rei-chan, we need you, okay? And we'll be here, all of us, backing you up as well as we can. So be strong, okay?"

_We need you. She said they needed me. Why? I didn't think anybody ever really __**needed**__ me. I've…_ Rei's thoughts ran back, and a long forgotten, buried memory surfaced.

"_I need you to be my Bridesmaid, Rei."_

"_You… need me?" _

"_Yes…"_

Resolve steeled the girl's face. She nodded once to Misato, and the woman smiled.

"Thank you."

Then she stood up and let go of Rei's shoulder and walking to the door. Rei made to follow her, but a nurse walked in and shook her head. Misato smiled at her.

"I've gotta talk to Ritsuko… Doctor Akagi, and sort some things out, but I'll be down in the waiting room when you're done and discharged, 'kay?"

Rei could only nod as the nurse began to poke and prod her, and checked the bandages.

* * *

"Physically she's pretty much fine now." Ritsuko said, the moment Misato walked into the small office she had when above the lower levels of NERV HQ. Misato always noticed with more than a little wry amusement that it was always covered with cats; cat statues, a cat tea-towel covered in coffee stains, cat bobbleheads. Even a catgirl statuette from some anime was in amongst them.

It had been the reason why, when Ritsuko had first met Misato and they'd gone back to the bottle-blonde's dorm room in college, Misato had simply labelled her "The Crazy Cat Lady".

Drawing herself back from reminiscing –she had to stop doing that lately, it was getting to be a habit- Misato nodded. "Aside from her external injuries, right?"

"Yes. I think the Eva's systems realised it couldn't work without a live pilot. She has all the external injuries it sustained before it went berserk, but nothing too deep. Except the eye, of course. That one's… a bit more complicated."

Misato winced. "She lost the eye then?" _Gods, what a thing to happen to a young girl…_

"No, actually. Well, sort of. She lost it, and when the Eva was regenerating, she grew it back. Sympathetic injury feedback is one thing, but if we could harness the same regeneration, we could potentially heal anything."

"As long as the person is a pilot." Misato cut off Ritsuko before she could go full tilt into what the Captain called 'SCIENCE Mode'. "So why the eyepatch?"

"A precautionary measure, nothing more." Ritsuko picked up a cigarette and lit it, taking a deep drag. "It might take a few days for her systems to get used to it. She's going to get a shock when she finally sees it, though."

"Why?"

"It's red." Ritsuko shrugged. "Though, to be honest I doubt the girl could care less. She doesn't seem to take much pride in herself. Figures, though. I mean, she's the Commander's daughter, and she was raised by my mother and her mother's brother." The scientist snorted and lapsed into mutterings.

"Hey, leave her alone. She saved all our collective asses five days ago. She nearly died doing so. You could at least afford her some respect."

"Getting attached, Captain?" Ritsuko smirked. "This isn't like you at all… I mean, you've stayed in that room when you've not been on duty for three days. The only time you've had a drink was a beer when you went back home to change."

"Unlike _some people_, I thought that the least I could do was making sure that when she woke up, that she had someone friendly to talk to straight away. We did just dump her into a giant robot and send her trundling off to fight monsters that happily wade their way through entire battalions of tanks and bombers and shrugs off N2 mines."

"So taking her in to live with you wasn't just an excuse to play mama-bear?" Ritsuko chuckled.

"Convenience, actually. My apartment is near an entrance to the Geofront. And she needs a place to stay; no girl her age should live on her own."

The bottle blonde raised an eyebrow. "The First does. You've never complained about her living status." Ritsuko countered. Misato frowned.

"She seems happy enough with the arrangement and the Commander takes care of all things to do with her. Rei Ikari, on the other hand…"

"I see."

"Look, just drop it, Rits."

Ritsuko shrugged. "Very well; back to the girl's condition."

"You know she has a name, right?" Misato held up her hands at Ritsuko's expression. "_Fine. _Carry on._"_

"Well, she might have some problems with her memories. No surprise; her cranial nerves were put under a ridiculous amount of stress."

"I think you mean her M-I-N-D, Rits." Misato grinned. Then she frowned. "She doesn't remember what happened. It won't be like this every time, will it?"

Ritsuko shot her a look that just said '_how would I know?'_

* * *

Rei walked into the waiting room and found it empty. She looked around and sighed, sitting down on one of the benches and trying to smooth the skirt she was wearing down. She didn't really like skirts too much, but the clothes had been all the nurse had had. Rei's own clothes had been practically destroyed by the LCL in the entry plug and her blood running onto them. The trousers might have been salvageable, but the blouse was a lost cause.

So it came to be that Rei Ikari was wearing a medium length grey skirt, small white socks and a pink tee shirt that simply declared "I AM BOSS". The skirt she could live with; the shirt, someone was going to die for.

Painfully.

Briefly she toyed with the idea of some nameless mook screaming as a giant purple hand reached after him. Then she grimaced. Getting in the Evangelion again probably meant more pain.

They still hadn't given her any shoes. When she'd asked where her own were; the doctors had just looked confused and waved her off, mumbling something under their breath.

_Figures._

"Hey there." A familiar voice said, and Rei started, wincing as she banged her arm on the chair next to her. She turned to see Misato standing there, hands on her hips. In her hands were Rei's shoes. "Sorry I'm late. Ritsuko had more than enough to say, but the long and short of it is you're fine, apart from the obvious." She handed the shoes to Rei, who promptly put them on.

She nodded and stood up, wobbling a moment before looking around. "Where am I staying?" She asked.

Misato grinned and pointed to herself. "You'll be staying with me for the moment. God, it'll be so cool to have a housemate at last."

"With… you…?"

"Yup! They were going to put you on your own, but I thought that that was a bit harsh."

"Uh… Thank you." Rei gave a watery smile.

Misato waved her hand. "Ah, don't mind it; it's mostly convenience and all that. You'll be transferring to school here the day after tomorrow, if you're feeling up to it. And… I'm afraid we're going to have your evenings to train you for at least the next couple of weeks at least." She rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay." Rei shook her head. "I don't do much in the evenings anyway, and if I have to go out in that… thing again, I'd rather know what I'm doing."

Misato gave a small whoop and clapped Rei on the shoulder, where the girl flinched from the contact as if burned. Misato frowned, but said nothing, just thinking that it was the injuries.

"Uh, sorry. Anyway, let's get going!"

* * *

The office is huge, silent. Sometimes referred to as 'The Mausoleum', inhabited by 'The Iceman', though never to his face. He knows, though. It's hard to think of anything he doesn't know about NERV and the staff.

Particularly all of their dark little secrets. If they have them.

Kozo Fuyutsuki was sitting across from him, silently stewing as Gendo quite easily demolished his entire game plan in a matter of moves.

He always was a sore loser.

"The committee was displeased." Fuyutsuki said bluntly. He was understating; the one who always went on about the budget was almost crying with the reports of the damage to Unit 01's armour, and the repair and reactivation costs for Unit 00. Not to mention new armour for the prototype as well. And the damage to the city.

Gendo had simply stared at them with his usual coldness and stated that he expected the budget to be considered, since there was a war to fight.

Yellow hadn't taken it well at all. Keel Lorenz had had to step in to shut him up.

"The old men are foolish, weak. We've already got proof that _their _scenario is wrong. The appearance of the Third Angel negated it completely. They, of course, know nothing of its attack. I also believe their pet Nephilim no longer stays with them, but lives here in Tokyo-3. We shall have to have him watched, but he does not seem to be acting under any agenda. I believe it was curiosity that drove him here, more than a job. My theory is that he essentially blackmailed Lorenz into letting him leave. There is no other way I can see Keel letting him go."

"Indeed." Fuyutsuki moved his piece on the chessboard and winced as Gendo took it.

"The Third has woken up; she is being escorted home by Captain Katsuragi. Minor damage to her arm, leg and head, and some mental instability that will pass." Fuyutsuki said. "Ikari, I know you do not have a good relationship with your daughter, but perhaps you should have brought her here earlier so she could be trained in the use of the Evangelion."

"All according to plan, Professor." Gendo smirked, tapping the chessboard lightly. "I counted on the fact that she would be terrified and in danger, and Yui would act accordingly. She did. I was not disappointed."

Fuyutsuki regarded the man sat before him a moment, taking stock. "And the Committee?"

"They knew the plan as well." Gendo said, taking the final piece. "Checkmate, Professor."

Fuyutsuki sighed and conceded defeat. "Very well, but Ikari, you should have told me the plan beforehand."

"You are too involved with the Third, Professor. I therefore saw fit to keep you in the dark."

"Is that why you would not let me be the one to meet her?" Fuyutsuki asked, now genuinely curious.

"To goad her into piloting the Evangelion would have been made harder by your presence."

Fuyutsuki sighed. "I see. Very well then."

"Rest assured that I don't keep many secrets from you, Professor." Gendo produced a manila folder and placed it down. "We should discuss the budget for the next month, specifically pertaining to Unit 00's repairs."

Fuyutsuki leaned back.

"Very well."

* * *

The boy knocked at the door politely and waited, red eyes flashing in the late afternoon light. There were scuffling sounds and raised voices.

"Kana! Stop pushing past me!"

"But Big Brotheeer!"

"No buts!"

The door opened and two figures looked out expectantly. One a little girl, maybe nine, and the other a fourteen year old boy wearing a tracksuit, with dark brown hair. Seeing the person on the doorstep, the girl squealed and ran at him, tackle hugging the surprised boy.

"Kaworu-san! Kaworu-san!"

"Um…" Kaworu looked a little lost, and Touji Suzuhara chuckled and pulled his sister off the surprised Nephilim.

"Kana, don't go barging at everyone like that." He scolded. Kaworu held up his hands.

"It is of no consequence, I was merely surprised." He said, smiling. Touji nodded and beckoned Kaworu into the house, and the odd boy obliged, closing the door behind him and removing his shoes.

Sitting down in the front room, where Kana Suzuhara, little sister of Touji Suzuhara was already sat playing on a games console, Kaworu scanned the room. It made him feel oddly warm; and he expanded his senses ever so slightly, seeing beyond the mundane and into the _feel_ of the room. The room, too, was warm, and it made him curious. There were echoes of laughter that he could hear, warm feelings of closeness that lingered on. He reduced his senses as he realised someone was talking to him.

"Yo, dude, you a'right?"

Kaworu blinked and shook off the last of the state he'd been in. "Oh, yes, just deep in thought. I apologise, a lot of this is very new to me." He paused, uncertain, as Touji handed him a glass with a drink in it.

"What do you mean?"

"I lived in Germany for most of my life. Even then I was very sheltered. I work for a Committee that oversees several projects for NERV, you see. I have done all my life."

"O…kay…"

Kaworu smiled.

"Well, I'm glad I was able to help you and your sister in the attack."

"Yeah, uh… thanks for that by the way. That was totally awesome."

* * *

_**Five days previously.**_

"Kana! Kana, don't run ahead like that! Oi…"

Touji stopped as he emerged onto a rooftop after his sister, and stared at the white haired boy standing about ten metres ahead of him. Kana had run to his side and was watching the monster walking around town with excited interest.

Touji approached them and grabbed Kana's hand. "Kana, I've told you time and time again…"

"This was your idea, big brother!"

"Yeah, well, I'm starting to get the feeling that this was a bad idea-"

"Good evening." A voice cut into their argument and they turned around to stare at the boy who was next to them now. He had red eyes, just like Ayanami from class. _Guess this place attracts freaks… like that huge thing there._

"Uh, hey."

"How are you?" The boy asked, as if they weren't standing on top of a building in the middle of a warzone with a giant monster bearing down on the city, but at some kind of dinner party.

"Uh, fine, I guess."

"That's good. Shouldn't you be in a shelter?" The boy asked with a mild disinterest colouring his speech.

"Uh, it was closed." Touji hit himself on the head to stop himself from saying 'uh' one more time.

"I see. Well, I suppose here is as safe as anywhere when Sachiel fights the Beast."

"The… what? Wait, that thing has a name?"

"Oh, yes." The boy said. "And lo, behold, shall Sachiel, Angel of Water come from the depths! His gaze shall crucify whatever it see fit, and his arms shall be lances of power! He shall grind the machines of Man underneath his feet, before searching for Completion in the Hallowed ground of the Egg."

Touji worked his jaw. "How… how do you know all that?"

"Oh, I work for a Committee who helps NERV. I also read a lot. It tends to blend together, and that's what comes out." The boy smiled and held up a book he was holding. He started suddenly. "Ah, here he is."

"He?" Touji asked, but was cut off as four pylons flew into the air and the ground opened up, before a huge purple robot slammed into view. As they watched, it disengaged from the locks on the lift and seemed to slump. "Woah."

"That's… so… COOL!" Kana whooped. Touji shook his head.

"Oh, my name is Kaworu. Kaworu Nagisa." The boy said, genially. "What's yours?"

"Touji. Touji Suzuhara. That's my sister, Kana. You're in my class, aren't you?"

"Pleased to meet you. And yes, I sit behind you. Next to your friend Aida, if I recall." Kaworu smiled at Kana and then regarded the robot as it took one step and then fell flat on its face. The sounds were deafening; crashes and thuds as each moved.

"Woah, that thing has one really shitty pilot." Touji said. Kaworu frowned slightly, but said nothing.

"He'll improve, I'm sure."

"He better, I- ooh, good roll."

Kaworu expanded his senses very slightly and saw the terror emanating off the purple Evangelion, before blinking and returning to human senses again.

Kana was whooping something about 'hitting its weak point for massive damage', but Kaworu could see that the cyborg was losing. A flash of memories that weren't all entirely his flew through his mind for a second, and he blinked and shook his head to shake them out.

"They are probably terrified." He said, to himself.

They watched with interest and not a little fear until the robot had its arm broken and the eye put out and flew towards the building in front of them. Touji yelled something as time seemed to slow down and Kana ran to them. As she reached them, they looked up and saw a huge purple hand flying down towards them – the broken arm slamming on the building.

Lightning fast, Kaworu grabbed both Touji and Kana and jumped back with them; the huge hand slamming down where they had just vacated.

Time returned to normal and Kana started crying, hugging onto her older brother for support as Touji stared at Kaworu in mute shock.

"You…"

"Think nothing of it. They seem beaten." He pointed to the robot, which was now emitting huge jets of red fluid; some of it splashing onto their rooftop. Then they watched in horror as it roared; the sound nearly deafening them with its sheer loudness and rage, and the robot flung itself at the monster. Touji hid Kana from the worst of the carnage, only muttering "Holy shit" to himself in an odd mantra. Kaworu watched the battle, with nothing but that weird smile of his, and said nothing more until they left for their home, leaving him their address and making him promise to stop by the next day.

They missed him watching the end of the battle and the Evangelion as the dawn broke over Tokyo-3, and his final muttered words to himself before he went back to his home.

"The appointed time is upon us. This time, Shinji Ikari, this time I shall truly make you happy."

* * *

Kaworu shrugged at Touji's words of praise. "I did what had to be done."

Touji nodded. "Fine."

"I heard there were a few new transferees coming into the class." Kaworu said smiling. "I wonder who they'll be?"

Rei grimaced as Misato drove along, although this time it felt like the older woman was being careful. Probably because of Rei's injuries. It was late afternoon by now, and the sun was starting to set, casting a golden orange tinge to everything. She sneezed suddenly, and blinked in confusion before sighing again.

Misato had insisted on stopping off in some shop, though she'd shown Rei how to use a NERV ID as a combination debit card and ID, as well as explaining some more of the features of it, like free transport around the city.

Rei had been taken aback when she saw how much money was in the account, which her own had been merged with; all of the pilots had money placed into a trust fund. Quite a large sum of money, in fact, mostly paid in by the UN.

Every month the interest would be skimmed from the locked fund and placed into their NERV account, as well as a 'bonus' monthly stipend; payment for their services. That and Rei had received a 'signing on bonus'. Even though she'd not signed on to anything , but Misato simply waved that off as a technicality.

The trust fund itself would unlock when they reached twenty years of age, the time they would be deemed adults, and in the event of them dying or being rendered unable to take the money, it would pass onto their marked next of kin, be it their children, closest family member or whatever. Rei had snorted at the first one – all of the pilots she knew of were fourteen, so aside from the unlikely chance of them becoming pregnant, there was the fact that she'd been told that the moment she'd start menarche, they would start putting her on injected contraceptives. NERV couldn't afford to have a pregnant pilot when there were so few.

Rei had looked slightly incredulous as this was explained to her by the nurse after a particularly probing set of questions. _Talk about paranoia._

She pulled at the tee shirt she'd been given and sighed again. She'd have asked why they hadn't just brought some of her own clothes from her bag to her, but she knew better than to ask. Misato had said offhandedly that her bag and all her things were in her new room at Misato's apartment, and that she simply hadn't had the time to go back and fetch them. Her own opinion was that some kind of god was playing around with her life to make it hell.

"It's a long way to your apartment." She said, after a long silence. Misato smiled.

"We're taking a detour, there's a place you've got to see."

"What kind of place?" Rei asked, genuinely curious.

"Somewhere very cool." Was all Misato had said.

Said 'cool place' turned out to be in the form of a large hill they drove up and parked on. Misato had brought out a few cans of coffee and she'd stood with Rei at some railings, as if waiting for something. She kept checking her watch and then nodded. "Should be about time… now."

She nodded again, and then Rei looked about in alarm as she heard a warning siren blare. And then hatches opened up on the ground in and around the city. She watched in fascination as the buildings started to rise up into the sky, dwarfing the smaller buildings that were the staple of the city and finally snapping to life.

From this far away, Rei could still hear the loud clicks of the locking mechanisms. Misato gestured at the city as Rei took it all in, awed into silence by the sight.

"This is Tokyo-3, Rei-chan." The Captain began, smiling at her new charge. "It's a fortress city, designed for one thing; to repulse the Angel attacks and defeat them. It's the shining city of mankind's future, protecting that future with an iron fist in the form of the Evangelion." She put a hand on Rei's shoulder, making the girl flinch at the contact, but kept the hand there.

"And it's the city you protected five days ago."

"I…" Rei began. She shook her head. "I can't remember what happened."

"That doesn't matter; you still kicked that green thing's leathery ass from here to kingdom come." Misato squeezed Rei's shoulder and then let go, turning back to the car. "Let's get home. We're going to have a nice welcome party!"

* * *

_**A Place to Call Home**_

It was dark by the time they pulled up to an apartment complex that Misato had cheerfully labelled as 'home'. Walking up the stairs, Rei wondered once again what she was doing here, but shook the thoughts off as they approached a door labelled 'M. KATSURAGI' in bold writing, which slid aside as Misato unlocked it with her keycard.

Stepping briskly across the threshold and kicking her shoes off, she turned back to Rei, who was standing hesitantly at the door, the shopping bags in her hands as she regarded the doorway apprehensively.

"Come on in!" Misato said cheerfully. Rei continued to hesitate.

"I, um, I know it sounds silly, but I don't want to impose…" Rei said softly. Misato looked annoyed for a moment, but then walked out and put an arm around the girl's shoulders, making her wince again.

"This is your home now, Rei." She said, smiling. "You're not going to be imposing as long as it is. Come on in home."

Rei took a tentative step forwards and then stepped over the threshold. "I'm… I'm home." She said, smiling half to herself as she completed the traditional greeting.

"Welcome home." Misato said after she'd stepped back in. She stepped into the corridor. "Party time!" She stopped and turned around a moment. "Oh, it's a little messy; I kinda haven't had time to clean up yet…" She brightened up. "It'll be all right though!" She laughed gaily and continued walking into the apartment proper.

Rei followed her after taking off her own shoes a little more neatly, looking curiously around as she did.

Then she stepped into the dining room/kitchen and her eyes opened wide at the sheer volume of mess in the room in front of her.

Empty alcohol bottles were scattered around; in one corner there was a mountain of cans taller than Rei (not hard considering her stature, but still…), bags of rubbish had accumulated on and around the small bin near the door, and none of the surfaces like the table looked like they had been cleaned since the apartment was built. Rei looked in apprehension at the door that had swung shut to the living room, only to find it a little less messy than the kitchen, but still disgusting to the fourteen year old.

"Oh, would you mind putting the shopping away?" Misato's voice floated out of the doorway that led into the living room, and Rei shouted her agreement before walking to the fridge, cursing her lack of depth perception again as she bashed her hurt leg on the table.

"Let's see…" She muttered, opening the fridge. It was an odd model, with about five racks of shelving that pulled out, rather than the traditional set of shelves. She pulled the first one out and was rewarded with an entire shelf dedicated to ice. _Fair enough. Must be an ice tray._ She thought.

The next wasn't so straightforward; cans of Yebisu beer were stacked from top to bottom of the shelf, and Rei arched her visible eyebrow. "That's… a lot of beer." She muttered, pushing the shelf back in.

She pulled the third shelf out, only to be greeted by a shelf full of what was best known as 'Beer Snacks'; namely snacks that were usually eaten with alcohol or at parties. For some reason there was also a bag of Doritos in the fridge. Rei wasn't entirely sure why, though she spotted the dip nearby.

A distinctly different kind of humming caught her ear, and she looked to the other side of the room to see a different fridge, with a much smaller door.

"Um, Misato, the other fridge, is it okay to…?"

"Oh, that? Hmmm, probably sleeping."

_Sleeping?_ Rei wondered to herself, before pulling out a fourth shelf rack from the fridge she was in front of, thanking whatever deity was watching her that it was mostly empty. She put the food into it and then stood up, sliding the shelf in and closing the fridge up.

The microwave gave a merry 'ding' and the food was ready.

At least, Rei assumed it was food. It looked more like plastic that been mocked up like the toys you give to children for when they play house. She picked at something that looked vaguely like it had once touched a slice of chicken.

"Itadakimasu!" Misato chirped, and raised her hands over her head. "It's time to P-A-R-T-Y!"

Promptly, Misato drank a beer down in one and reached for another one, while Rei watched incredulously. Her gaze lingered around the room and through the door into the lounge, where there was still the debris of several bottles of alcohol.

_How does she live? Scratch that, how is she still ALIVE? And what's with those clothes?_

The older woman had changed into a pair of cutoff denim shorts and a yellow tee shirt and looked suspiciously to Rei like she wasn't wearing a bra. Come to think of it, weren't those the clothes she was wearing in **that** photo?

"U-um, Misato-san?" Rei said, after echoing with a much quieter 'Itadakimasu'.

"Yes, Rei-chan?" Misato said, between mouthfuls of… stuff.

"Why did you send that photo?" She thought for a moment. "And annotate it?"

Misato stopped mid-slurp and then swallowed almost audibly. To her credit, she went a little red. "I…uh… Don't take this the wrong way, Rei-chan… but…"

"You thought I was a boy."

"Uh, yes. I only had a semi-formal photo of you, and it was only a mugshot and…"

"It's okay." _No it isn't. _"I'm used to it."

"Oh…"

Rei shook her head and picked a little more at the stuff that might sometime have been considered food.

Misato returned to her enthusiastic slurping and then picked another can up, drinking that one down. "Kyaaaah. Now this is the life!" She declared. Rei shook her head and continued to eat. Misato crossed her legs under the table and idly jabbed Rei with her toe.

"Is it alright? I know it's instant, but it's not too bad, is it?"

Rei made a noncommittal noise and stirred the contents of what might have been a ramen bowl.

"Are you okay?"

Rei shrugged. "I suppose."

"You sure?"

"I just don't feel too great." Rei said. "Being shoved into a giant robot and having to face giant monsters probably does that." She looked bitterly at her damaged arm.

Misato looked at her and sighed. "I'm sorry, Rei. I should have realised that they'd only want you to be there for that. That's all I can offer."

Rei looked guilty. "It's not your fault, Misato-san. It's my father's."

She clenched her fists, and then relaxed, digging into her meal. Misato shrugged. _Not my place to ask._ She returned to her own meal. Finishing, she exclaimed her thanks and heard Rei quietly say the same. She stood up and walked over to the girl, smiling at her.

"Why not get a bath, Rei-chan?" She reached forwards wither her hand.

Rei saw the hand approaching her face and for a few milliseconds another view slammed through her head **– **_**a tridactyl hand reaching for her face. A broken city. A beaked face. Blinding purple light stabbing into her eye.**_

She squealed and fell backwards off her chair and yelped as she landed hard on the other side, before looking around, confused.

"Rei-chan? Are you all right?" Misato asked, looking concerned as the girl unsteadily got to her feet. Rei held a hand to her head, swaying slightly. Her covered eye itched and ached again, and her injuries were throbbing.

"I… think… Um… I don't know…" She said, looking disorientated. Misato put a hand on her shoulder and guided her to the bathroom slowly.

"I'll put your clothes in your room ready, 'kay?" The older woman said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "Take a bath. Bathing is the laundry of life – you can wash all the bad things away from yourself!" She laughed gently and propelled the teenager into the small room adjoining the bathroom.

* * *

Rei stared at her arm as she took off the splint surrounding it and regarded the bruising that was only just beginning to fade. Ignoring the throbbing, she took off her socks and then the brace around her leg, depositing the two splints somewhere she would be able to pick them up easily again. She then removed the wrappings around her right eye, keeping it closed as she had been told to, putting on the odd looking waterproof eyepatch she'd been given to wear until the next few days had passed.

Taking off the remainder of her clothes, she inspected herself, noting the bruises, scrapes and other healing injuries that she'd sustained. She shivered and walked to the shower.

Feeling somewhat better after her shower, she walked up to the bathroom door, glancing up at the voluminous bras that hung on a peg rack. She raised an eyebrow and felt an uncharacteristic twinge of jealousy, before putting her hands on the door.

As soon as she had slid the door open, she was met with a flapping of wings, a screech and a small, odd looking bird with a towel about its neck. Seeming to her to be on the verge of attack, instinct kicked in and she let out a piercing shriek before running to the first place of safety he could think of; namely the kitchen.

Misato jumped at the shriek and promptly downed another beer as Rei ran into the room naked. She raised an eyebrow, glad that the noise of chugging beer hid the slight 'snrk' noise she'd made as she had realised what had happened

"Mi-mi-Misato-san th-there's a… a… B-bir…" Rei trailed off as the bird thing very calmly walked past her, giving her a glance that spoke volumes of the disdain it felt for her reaction. It extended a claw from one wing, opened the small door on the second fridge and stepped in, closing the door behind it. Rei stared incredulously at it for about three seconds before pointing at the fridge.

"What the hell was that?" She managed to stammer out.

"Oh, he's your other roommate. A new kind of Hot-springs penguin. His name's Pen-Pen." Misato waved Rei off towards the bathroom. "You might want to not waste the hot water, you know." She took a drink. The beer told her to tease the girl some more. "You might want to cover yourself up, too."

Rei instantly turned bright red and turned around, trying to cover herself, muttering odd noises to herself all the while. Misato glanced to the side thoughtfully.

_Maybe I'm being too happy-go-lucky. _She thought. _Too transparent .I wonder if she sees right through me?_

* * *

Rei stared at the ceiling of the room that Misato had attached a heart shaped sign with 'Rei-chan's Lovely Suite' written on it. Her bath hadn't made her feel much better, although she felt cleaner than she had all day.

Something felt like it was pressing on the back of her mind, on the back of her head. Like an itch she couldn't scratch.

_**A feeling of being something greater. A crash. A glimpse of a beaked face. The tarmac.**_

She blinked and shook her head, turning to the door and staring at that.

"I don't know this place. Why am I still here?" She mumbled. She could hear Misato splashing around and speaking in the bath. She looked back up at the ceiling wither her good eye.

_Why did I even agree to come?_

Rei regarded the ceiling for a few minutes and on the periphery of her hearing, heard another splash and a gurgle as Misato stepped out of the bath and pulled the plug.

_She seems nice, but why did she ask me to stay here? Why did she tell me that this was my home now? What about Uncle Daisuke and Auntie Naoko?_

She held the bruised and damaged arm above her and stared at it.

_What happened? Why can't I remember?_

SMASH.

_**Her arm fractures. Crushed by a giant with a beaked face.**_

SMASH.

_**Reaching down to pick her up, it holds her high above the ground. A gemstone glows.**_

SMASH.

_**Blinding, pain filled light. Pressure on her eyes.**_

SMASH.

_**With a smash and a wet, sick noise the lance of light slices into her eye and then her head, and through, and out the back. Pain, blinding, agonising pain as she screams and screams and screams. Rage, hate, painpainpain So much agony she thought she could never feel anything else again. Slamming back into a building and her hand landing, nearly crushing a little girl .**_

_**Then, amidst the pain and the rage rises a new feeling. The desire to destroy, to rend, to tear. Hate, pain and rage, whirling around one another and for a few minutes she is something greater as her chariot roars and rages, and tears the Angel apart. Sachiel screams on a level that humans cannot hear, and Unit 01 roars in defiance of this trespasser; this enemy, this hate filled nemesis of itself.**_

_**It reaches down and pulls part of the monster away before savagely attacking the centre of the Angel's being, lancing pain, hot, rage fuelled pain through the very heart of the beast. Blood flies everywhere. And Sachiel screams. And screams. And screams as it feels itself coming apart at the seams; its very heart leaking upon the earth, and in one last ditch attempt to harm the Shadow of something greater; the perversion of natural law, destroys itself in a flash of fire and blood.**_

_**But the abomination survives, unscathed, Unit 01 survives, and Rei is cast back into her frail shell, into a world of even greater pain than before as every injury is felt so keenly throughout her body. Unit 01 powers the inner self down and Rei is left staring as the bridge crew patch through to her. Then the healing begins, and with another wet, sick noise her eye reforms, sending shards of pain and bone and flesh to reform in her face and as she does so, so does the chariot she is in, staring into her very soul.**_

_**And that is when she screams **__**again at the violation of her being; the strip searching of the soul that it forces through her just by a simple look.**_

_**And the world vanishes into darkness.**_

Misato walked past the door, then stopped. A noise from inside caught her ear, and she slid open the door to find Rei curled up on the bed, facing the door, tears tracking down onto the pillow as she sobs and whimpers. Misato sucks in a breath and leans on the doorway.

"Are you okay, Rei-chan?"

No answer. The girl just stares at her even as she sobs.

"Rei-chan, please, what's up?" Misato folded her arms.

"I… I…" The teenager whimpered, and Misato took a slight step back as Rei closed her eye. "I…"

"Listen, Rei. I know it might not mean much, but you should be proud of what you did."

Rei opened her eye and looked at Misato levelly. Misato cursed herself for a second, and then ploughed on.

"You beat a monster that destroyed battalions of tanks, which threatened everyone in the world." You should be proud."

Rei curled up into a ball and shuddered once. Misato started and was about to walk into the room to give her a hug but stopped before she could. _She probably wants to be alone for a while._

"Goodnight, Rei-chan. Sleep well." Misato whispered, and slid the door closed, leaning against it a moment, before walking back to her own room. She sighed as she slid under the covers of her futon and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Ahh, sorry it took so long to do this chapter. I got caught up writing bits that I haven't even got to yet. Sorry if it's... slow, but I'm trying to set the damned thing up. It'll pick up when more Angels start attacking.

Thanks for reading.


	4. Settling In, Institutionalised

_**Reaching Out**_

_**A Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfiction**_

_**Chapter 3 – Settling In/Institutionalised**_

_**Disclaimer: Evangelion does not belong to me, nor do I make any money off this, though if you believe otherwise, I'll happily laugh at you.**_

* * *

_The little girl with the rough pageboy haircut was crying. Dressed in her elementary school uniform, sitting on the wall under a large tree, she was curled up in a ball of misery. She looked about five, maybe six, though small for her age. An ugly bruise decorated her knee and there were more on her arms. The physical injuries from being tripped up were nothing on the cruel barbs the other girls had been throwing at her ever since she had been in this school._

_She never told a grown-up or a teacher about the bullying – what would they do? Nothing, as far as Rei was concerned. _

"_Hello!" The chirpy greeting interrupted her morose thoughts, and Rei looked up to see a girl her own age stood in front of her. Her hair was long – in bunches, as Rei's own hair had been before she'd cut it off to make it easier to look after. Rei blinked. Didn't the other girls warn anybody off from being friends with her?_

"_I'm new here, who are you?" The girl enquired, and Rei looked down. Now it made sense. She'd find out soon enough._

"_Rei. Rei Ikari."_

_The girl gave a grin. "I'm Chihiro Satonaka, and we're going to be friends!" She announced. Rei looked at her._

"_Friends?"_

"_Yep!" Chihiro responded, grinning widely. Rei blinked at her openness._

"_The others won't like you because they don't like me." Rei said quietly. Chihiro shrugged._

"_Then they're just meanies. Big boring meanies. Why is your hair like that?" Chihiro cocked her head to one side._

"_Like what?" Rei asked, bewildered._

"_All… you know, rough and weird." Chihiro said brightly. Rei put a hand to her hair._

"_I had to cut my bunches off because they were hard to look after on my own." Rei responded numbly. It had felt painful at first, to cut them off, and she had slipped and nicked her arms a few times, though nothing serious. It wasn't like Sensei was going to spare the time to do it; he was always so busy. "It's weird?"_

"_Oh, wow, you cut your own hair? That's soo amazing! But why doesn't your mother cut it?" Chihiro looked confused._

_Rei looked back down and sniffled, before wiping her eyes quickly. "Mama isn't here anymore and my daddy didn't want me. I live with Sensei."_

"_Oh," Chihiro said, looking sad. "Well, I'm sure they would be very impressed." She added brightly. "My mama always says I get into too much trouble to use scissors!"_

_Rei could believe that._

"_So what do you want to do?" Chihiro asked, hands on her hips. "**I **think we should go and play on the slide. But what do you want to do, Rei-chan?"_

Rei opened her eyes and the familiar walls of the darkened entry plug swam back into view. Something seemed to poke at her mind; like synchronisation, but far more subtle. She tried to push it out, when what sounded like a voice spoke in her mind.

**~What is this in location/area/place designated memory/nostalgia/importance/past? Why is it important?~**

"Who are you?" Rei asked, bewildered. Something swam into vague focus in front of her; a small figure with dark hair and blue eyes. She recognised it as a younger form of herself. The zebra striped dress was something new though.

"Are you the Angel?"

**~What/when/who/why is 'Angel'?~ **The little form responded. She looked almost shyly at Rei. **~I am/We are/It is Leliel. Not 'Angel'. So much thought/sense/noise boiling from your brain/mind/intellect.~ **There was the sound of a giggle. Rei reached her hand out and tried to grab the apparition, but it vanished as soon as she touched it. There was another giggle.

Rei curled up and put her hands on her head. "This isn't real. It is not talking to me. I'm not going insane." She ground out through clenched teeth, and closed her eyes. "It's not real."

On her wrist, the clock steadily counted down towards zero.

* * *

**Settling In**

_Rei ran, gasping for breath as the dark green monstrosity dogged her every step. It seemed that no matter how fast she ran it would always be there, not six feet behind her, walking. Implacable._

_It stared at her with the beaked bone mask it called a face, then blinked and stared through her soul. And Rei screamed as it reached for her, knowing she had dawdled too long. Her arms felt incredibly heavy, and she could not move them._

_And then a gem on its hand lit up and she screamed again as she knew what was about to come. Searing, blinding-_

Rei's eyes snapped open, a scream not-quite wrenching itself from her body, and after a minute of terrified shivering she sat up, trying to calm the hammering of her heart and slow down her breathing. Sweat dripped off her forehead and her sheets were damp from perspiration, even though it was a relatively cool night.

She rubbed at her uncovered eye and found tears there. She wiped them away quickly. A muffled knock came through her door, and she glanced at the illuminated numbers of her bedside clock. Three AM.

"Rei-chan, are you alright?" Misato's sleepy voice came through the door. "Was it another nightmare?"

"I'm… I'm fine…" Rei shouted back after a moment's silence. "Sorry if I woke you up, Misato-san."

She could almost imagine Misato sleepily waving off her apology. "It's okay; I was on my way to the bathroom anyway. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Rei mumbled, and sighed in relief as she heard Misato's feet thumping along away from her door.

She fell back onto the pillow and stared at her ceiling with one, wishing the nightmares would leave her alone. They'd started the day after she'd woken up, whenever she'd tried to get to sleep. All she'd see when she finally dropped off were variations on the beaked monster attacking her and destroying her eye. She wished she still didn't remember it.

The next day was going to be her first day at school as well.

And training in the use of the Evangelion.

What fun.

School, where no doubt the other kids would be pointing and prodding the new girl and either mocking or worrying about her injuries. All that _talking_ and asking and bothering. No problems there at all. And then there was learning to pilot a two hundred foot tall weapon of death to fight monsters that smashed through tank battalions and shrugged of N2 blasts like a light snowfall. While still injured.

The average day of any fourteen year old Japanese schoolgirl. Poking, prodding and humongous mecha. _God, when did my life become an anime?_

She opened her eyes again after falling into a doze. She looked at her clock, half past four. She shook her head and stood up. Might as well do something if she couldn't sleep. Cleaning had always calmed her down. The apartment was a mess. Ergo; clean the apartment.

It also _really _needed to be done. Like, _really really_ needed to be done, and Rei _hated_ mess.

Misato woke up with a snort and sat up groggily; putting aside the bottle she'd been hugging all night. She sniffed; and a delicious smell wafted into her nostrils. Definitely not the normal damp and occasionally rancid smell of her apartment. She took a moment to savour it, before nature called and she stood to her feet shakily. In hindsight, a full bottle of whisky might have been going a tad overboard, especially after six beers.

Not that she'd really have noticed a lesser hangover than this.

Scratching at her stomach sleepily, she opened her door to be greeted by the sight of a clean living room. Not her level of clean – that involved chucking all the rubbish into a bag and maybe lugging it downstairs to where it should have gone a few days earlier. No; this was _clean_.

_Spotlessly_ clean. Misato blinked and looked at the television stand, which had been dusted. She meandered her way into the kitchen, not noticing Rei at the oven, heading straight for the toilet. After stepping back out, she regarded the teen in front of her. Was the girl wearing an apron?

"Mornin' Rei-chan." She yawned, putting a hand over her mouth.

Rei didn't notice her at first; absorbed in the cooking as she was, so Misato simply chose to sit down at the table (also scrubbed, wiped down, dusted and even slightly polished. How long had Rei been at this?).

Rei turned around as the Captain sat down and gave a start.

"Oh, Misato-san. I didn't hear you there. Good morning." She said politely, and turned back to the stove where she was busy preparing breakfast. Misato blinked as Rei finished the cooking quickly and placed a bowl and plate next to her.

"I'm sorry if I'm imposing, with the cooking and cleaning… I just… couldn't sleep and the apartment was so messy…" _That and whatever you cook turns inexplicably to poison. _

"It's fine, Rei-chan. I appreciate the help." Misato took a bite of her food, cautiously, and then brightened up. "This is delicious, Rei-chan! Where did you learn to cook like this?"

Rei took off her apron and hung it up before sitting at the table herself and starting on her own breakfast. She paused.

"Um, cook books mostly. When I was little, I lived with a teacher. He wasn't very good at looking after himself or me, so I had to learn. That and Auntie Naoko and Uncle Daisuke aren't very good at cooking either."

"I see…" Misato said, looking thoughtful. "Well, this is excellent."

Rei hummed noncommittally. "It's okay. A little spicy for my tastes and I burned the fish a bit."

Misato shrugged and carried on eating. After she'd finished, she went into her room and then the shower room, just as Rei walked out.

She was somewhat taken aback by the fact that Rei was actually wearing the girls' uniform for the Tokyo-3 First Municipal Junior High School, rather than the somewhat more casual boys' uniform. Since she'd moved in a few days previously, Rei had favoured trousers and a shirt in general to be about the house. Misato also knew, from helping to unpack Rei's clothes that the girl owned no skirts, apart from the charcoal grey one she had been given when discharged from the hospital and the standard girls' school uniform.

Even her underwear was plain and boring. There was so little to tease the girl about except for her overwhelming seriousness.

Well, there may have been one thing…

She grinned mischievously and ruffled Rei's hair, the girl only twitching slightly.

"Well, don't you look all nice and spruced up!" Misato cooed, knowing this was a surefire way to tease the girl. "We'll be prising the boys off you with a crowbar before the day is done."

Rei went red but also gave her a venomous glare, the effect being somewhat hampered by the eyepatch covering her right eye.

* * *

**Insitutionalised**

Rei stared at the Tokyo-3 First Municipal High School building in front of her and sighed. She'd ignored any other children en route, uncomfortably aware of the stares people had thrown her for the injuries she had.

The building itself was uniformly grey, and looked almost exactly like every school building she'd ever seen before. Boring, drab and more reminiscent of a cellblock where they kept prisoners than a place where children would gather to learn.

Everywhere children her age were laughing and joking; hanging out with each other. That had always been something she'd felt separated from – she'd never really been able to bond with anyone – barring Chihiro, but then again, Chihiro was all the way back in Tokyo-2. And probably causing trouble for whichever girl she had latched onto this time.

Rei smiled to herself at that thought.

Maybe she'd make some new friends here, maybe she wouldn't. Life wouldn't be much different – all there was, it seemed, was to simply exist. Which was fine for Rei. Existing was easier than living. People didn't bother you if you didn't bother them.

Rei finally found her classroom, limping slightly as she walked, and cursed for the fifth time that day the lack of depth perception caused by the damage to her right eye as she banged her shins yet again.

She put a hand out on the doorframe to steady herself and winced again at the twinge that ran up her arm. She checked the splint and found it intact, and nodded, before walking into the classroom. She was wandering up to a freckle-faced girl with pigtails who looked like she was in charge when she caught the mutterings rippling across the room.

"Hey look, Ayanami finally stopped dying her hair blue."

"Woah, who's that?"

"Didn't know Ayanami had a sister."

Rei shook her head and approached the Class Representative.

"Oh, good morning, Ayanami-san! I thought you were…" The pigtailed girl put her hand to her mouth. "Oh, you're not Ayanami. I'm sorry." Rei shook her head and resolved that she needed a haircut.

"My name's Rei Ikari. I'm…"

"The new transfer student?" the girl almost squealed causing more people to stare at Rei. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to ignore them. "Oh, it's so nice to have someone transfer _in_ for a change! I'm Hikari Horaki, the class representative. If you need any help, just come to me, okay?"

"Uh… Sure. Where shall I sit?"

"I'm afraid the only seat is near the back, near to Aida-kun, Suzuhara-kun and Nagisa-kun." Hikari indicated where there were two people sat; a boy who looked something of a jock, in his tracksuit, and another who was at that moment moving a model of one of those JSSDF VTOLS, making noises like a child and filming it to boot. The other desk was empty, and was right behind the one Hikari had indicated.

"Thanks, Horaki-san." Rei gave a short bow, and winced at her bruises giving a twinge. Those felt like new ones on her back, or at least ones she'd not noticed yet.

"No problem. I'll have the teacher introduce you when he gets in. Why don't you go and sit down, Ikari-san? Those injuries look painful. I'll call you up when the teacher arrives to introduce yourself."

"I will, thank you." Rei could feel Hikari's stare lingering on the bandages and eyepatch, but gave a small smile to the class-rep and proceeded down to the seat she'd been pointed to, bowing once to Aida and Suzuhara –though they didn't notice- and then sitting down and slumping over, resting her head on the desk. She sighed in pleasure as she closed her eyes and shut everything else out.

"Good morning." A voice startled her out of her reverie, and she turned idly on the desk so she could see the door, where an odd looking boy was smiling at everyone. "Good morning, Class Representative Horaki-san."

"Good morning, Nagisa-kun." Hikari said cordially. The boy walked down the rows of desks, smiling and nodding at everyone as he walked. Rei watched him with vague interest; not because he was good looking - which he was, she grudgingly accepted - but because he had hair that was white, and red eyes. Almost like that other girl; the one with her name.

This one looked just about as creepy, perhaps more because of that disturbing smile. It was like he had only ever read about smiling and was trying to mimic it, Rei mused to herself, then shrugged and turned her head back down so she could close her eyes. Not her problem, just someone else to studiously ignore.

"Oh, good morning, you must be new." A voice said near her ear. She cracked her eye open and saw the newcomer smiling his creepy smile at her. Rei grunted sleepily and closed her eye again.

"Morning, Kaworu-kun." Another voice said cheerfully, and the white haired youth responded, seemingly forgetting her. Which was fine by Rei.

The day passed relatively quickly after she'd introduced herself to the class and sat down. Occasionally someone would try to approach her, but after several years of practicing the art of making people keep away from her, Rei was easily able to put them off, diverting unwanted questions with pointed stares and simple ignoring. Except for the Class Rep, who Rei had somewhat moodily decided would generally _have_ to deal with her, so it was probably best not to antagonise the stern looking girl.

Lunchtime was signalled with a ringing bell and a stampede of feet after the Class Rep's 'Stand, Bow, Sit!' routine, and Rei slumped back to her desk after being momentarily roused by the bell.

The teacher was so _boring_! That, and Rei had been getting so little restful sleep lately she felt like she'd been hung out to dry. She reached into her bag and brought out her small bento and began to pick at it, glowering. This was such a waste of time. She could be playing cello or maybe having training in not getting her ass kicked while fighting monsters in a giant robot.

Well, maybe she wouldn't go that far. School was infinitely better than the terror she still only fuzzily remembered. She closed her eyes and forced the memory back down, only noticing after opening her eyes that she was clutching the bento so tightly in her hands that her knuckles where white.

She sighed and played with the rice a moment before someone cleared their throat, making her jump. She stared up into the freckled face of the Class Rep, who held up a bento of her own.

"Mind if I join you?" She asked, smiling. Rei shrugged.

"Sure." She said after a moment. No sense in annoying the girl.

Hikari smiled and moved her chair over, sitting down. After watching the transfer student brush off nearly every question or social interaction with at best blatant ignorance, and at worst angry loudness, this was surprisingly good. Hikari took her duties seriously, and making sure everybody in the class was doing fine was one of the unofficial duties she had taken upon herself to perform. Getting to know new students until they managed to find themselves a group of friends was one of the things she tried to do these days.

She opened her own bento and started eating, pausing in between mouthfuls to speak to Rei.

"Well, Ikari-san, how are you enjoying you first day?" She smiled. Rei shrugged and picked some more at her food, absently scratching around the patched eye. There were thin white scars running like cracks from it, as if something had neatly sliced it out.

"It's school." Rei said after a few moments silence. "Same sh-," Swearing in front of the Class Rep was probably not a good idea, "_stuff _different day. Except for the boredom. My old school had an interesting teacher at least."

Hikari nodded. "Well, in the morning he doesn't seem to wake up. Hopefully this afternoon there'll be more interesting things going on."

Rei nodded and picked at her food some more. An awkward silence descended on the two of them until Hikari spoke again.

"Ah… Ikari-san?"

"Yes?"

"W-well, I was, ah, wondering…" She halted a second, hoping this wouldn't drive Rei away. "H-how did you-"

"Get these injuries?" Rei finished in an annoyed voice. Hikari nodded apprehensively. Rei put her chopsticks down on the table and closed her eyes, obviously fighting something unpleasant in her head. "In the attack a week and a bit ago." She said shortly, after a minute or so.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I was intruding…" Hikari began, but Rei cut her off.

"No, I'm just annoyed that everyone is asking about them. It's none of their business." She shrugged. "But you're class rep, and it is your business to know the state of people in the class."

"Is your eye… um… gone?" Hikari asked, looking at the patch. Rei shook her head.

"No, it was hurt in the attack. The doctors said it just needed time to heal."

"Oh, that must be a relief." Hikari said with a smile. Rei shrugged again.

"I'll be glad to have proper depth perception again. Otherwise it doesn't really bother me, except that the patch is itchy."

Hikari nodded uncertainly, and Rei seemed to go back into her shell. She cleared her throat again and the short-haired girl looked at her quizzically.

"Ah… Are you related to an Ayanami Rei-san at all?" She asked. Rei looked confused.

"Who?"

"Ayanami Rei-san. She's in this class. You look a lot like her, you know. Are you cousins?"

Rei blinked and then remembered back to the day she'd arrived in Tokyo-3. "About the same height as me? Blue hair, red eyes?" Hikari nodded. "No, I'm not related to her. I don't even know anything about her. I've seen her once."

Her fists clenched. That poor girl had been sent out by her father to pilot that… thing, and most likely die. If she had hated her father before, she _loathed_ him now.

Hikari noticed this and looked worried. "Ah, she didn't do anything… um… strange… did she?"

Rei looked at her hands, surprised. She shook her head. "Oh… no. No she didn't. It was something else I was annoyed about. Never mind." Rei stopped. She'd already decided not to tell anyone that she was a pilot. It would focus too much attention on her, and that was the last thing she needed.

Hikari knew when not to press onwards and nodded, smiling. "Well, she is a little strange, but I think she's a good person at heart. Just… different. You'll see when she comes to class."

Rei shrugged. "Maybe."

Of course, just like her life seemed to have taken a turn into anime somewhere in the last week, did the attitudes of her class devolve into such.

The lesson was actually interesting in the afternoon, being taken by a different teacher, and she was almost beginning to enjoy it when a message box appeared on the laptop Misato had thrust into her hands the other day for school. Apparently the other Pilot had one as well, markedly different inside, yet outwardly the same as the ones the others in the class had been furnished with for school.

The message box simply read "Are you the pilot of that robot?". Rei scowled. Who in their right mind would think that a fourteen-year-old girl was the pilot of some humongous mecha? She took a surreptitious glance around the room. It could have been the military otaku, he seemed he sort to think fantasy ideas turned out well in reality.

She sighed and entered a simple "NO." in the reply box. Surprisingly, the entire class seemed to give an odd noise of acknowledgement, and Rei ground her teeth in frustration. The idiot was trying to get her to confess in front of the entire class. _Fuck that_.

She stuck another reply in the box. "Why the hell would you even think that?"

Turning her attention back to the teacher, Rei wasn't surprised to see no response to her message pop up for the rest of the class. So much for them thinking life imitated anime. At least the harshness of her reply and her general standoffishness would stop them from bothering her from now on. The boys wouldn't see her as some kind of lust-object like they seemed to enjoy doing here to every other girl, and she'd made it quite clear she wasn't interested in playing the social hierarchy games the other girls seemed to love.

She was even in a vaguely good mood as she began walking towards the school gate, book bag held onto one shoulder. She should have known it wouldn't last.

"Hello." An oddly agreeable voice spoke in Rei's ear. She jumped and twirled to see the boy with red eyes and white hair from class smiling in a friendly way at her, far too close for her liking. It would have been a nice smile if he hadn't been wearing it for the entire time that she'd seen him about during the day. How on earth did someone manage to get a smile so wrong?

"Hello." Rei said coldly. "What do you want?"

"I'm Kaworu Nagisa." The youth said, still smiling, seemingly unfazed by her attitude. The others behind him –Suzuhara-the-jock and Aida-the-nerd, she mentally noted- shook their heads as if disbelieving their friend's idiocy. "Who are you?"

Rei considered him for a second. "Rei Ikari." She eventually ground out.

"I'm very pleased to meet you." His grin widened, if that was possible. "We should be friends."

"Why?" Rei asked, starting to look annoyed. Kaworu shrugged. It seemed to be an oddly practiced gesture. Too perfect a shrug to be otherwise.

"Well, because." He laughed, and like everything else the boy seemed to do, it seemed fake, hollow. Rei twitched.

"Right. Whatever. I don't have time to deal with…" She turned around, but was grabbed from behind in a sudden hug by a grinning Kaworu. "…You?"

He was still smiling when they pulled him out of the nearby bush. No one could quite figure out where she'd learned to throw like that, but it had been impressive. Touji brushed him down.

"You okay dude?" He asked. "Sorry, she seems like a real bitch."

Kaworu's grin grew even wider.

"I like her." He said. "She's going to be fun." Then his smile dropped. "There is something… wrong about her, though." He mused. "Gender for a start…"

Touji and Kensuke looked at one another as Kaworu seemed to slip into another language that Kensuke recognised as German.

* * *

Rei's bad mood lasted all the way home and for most of the time she spent limping towards NERV HQ. "Stupid fake smiling idiot grabbing me." She grumbled under her breath and winced as her arms and legs still felt sore - she hadn't meant to throw him so far, he was far too light for his size. Still, judo-throwing someone bigger than you as a bit of a strain on a good day, on an injured arm and leg, well.

_At least Uncle Kozo let me have a good instructor._

Getting lost for the fifth time that day in the maze that was the HQ, she finally found her way to where Misato and Doctor Akagi were waiting. Rei strode into the room and stared at them for a moment, still visibly riled up.

"Good evening Rei-chan! How was your first day at school?" Misato beamed. Rei sat down nearby with a 'humph'. Doctor Akagi raised her eyebrow.

"It's nice to see you two are getting along so famously." She commented idly, receiving a glare from both parties involved. "Still, now you're here Rei, we can start training you in the use of your Evangelion, and start building your synchronisation score up."

"Okay." Rei nodded. "How do we do that?"

Doctor Akagi raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. I'd have thought you reluctant to even step into an Evangelion, given how badly the first battle went."

Rei looked down. She tried to say something, but couldn't. Eventually she gave up and looked back at the doctor. "I have no choice, Doctor Akagi." She said coldly. "My father and you have seen to that."

Misato blinked at Rei's tone and then put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It'll be okay, Rei-chan. You'll have backup when we can get Unit Zero working, or Unit Two transferred from Germany. It's… not quite finished yet, though."

Rei shrugged. "Can we get this over with as soon as possible, then? I'd rather not suck as badly as I did in that fight if I have to do it again."

* * *

**A/N: Ugh. I'm sorry this took so long to get up, and that it's so short. This chapter really kicked my rear, and real life intervened and everything kinda just went explodey for a while. Hopefully next chapter will be along soon, and longer/higher quality. It'll also involve the Shamshel fight, which is going to be more visceral than the series' one. That's a promise.**

**~Myriad**


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